Buy, Buy Baby - Susan Gregory Thomas

A look at marketing to children 0-3. The author lays out the recent history behind the push for educational toys/TV for babies and toddlers – tracing it to the 1997 Clinton conference on early childhood development that was intended to promote high-quality preschools, but instead was seized upon by toy makers and TV producers as justification for academic-type toys and shows for very young children. She discusses what children under 3 really get from “educational television”. The answer: even with the best programs, the only thing they retain is recognition of the characters. For kids under 3, TV is just program-length commercials, like the Transformers or the Smurfs.

She talks about Baby Einstein, Sesame Street and Elmo, the Disney Princess package, the re-packaging and merchandising of childhood favorites (Clifford, Winnie-the-Pooh, Curious George), the impact of spin-off books on children’s book publishing, the use of curricula developed by toy/TV producers in preschools. Sometimes I stood in awe of the marketing genius, while at the same time being horrified by the uses to which it was being put.


Buy, Buy Baby: How Consumer Culture Manipulates Parents and Harms Young Minds
Susan Gregory Thomas
2007
Available from Amazon