Born To Buy: The Commercialised Child And The New Consumer Culture

Synopsis

Marketing targeted at kids is virtually everywhere -- in classrooms and textbooks, on the Internet, even at Girl Scout meetings, slumber parties, and the playground. Product placement and other innovations have introduced more subtle advertising to movies and television. Drawing on her own survey research and unprecedented access to the advertising industry, Juliet B. Schor,New York Timesbestselling author ofThe Overworked American,examines how marketing efforts of vast size, scope, and effectiveness have created "commercialized children." Ads and their messages about sex, drugs, and food affect not just what children want to buy, but who they think they are. In this groundbreaking and crucial book, Schor looks at the consequences of the commercialization of childhood and provides guidelines for parents and teachers. What is at stake is the emotional and social well-being of our children.Like Barbara Ehrenreich'sNickel and Dimed,Mary Pipher'sReviving Ophelia,and Malcolm Gladwell'sThe Tipping Point, Born to Buyis a major contribution to our understanding of a contemporary trend and its effects on the culture.