Blog 2

            Increasingly today children are joining the greater consumer culture.  They are becoming consumers at a young age as companies develop characters and products to entice them to into wanting, and thus buying, more.  Children’s programming has evolved over the years to become more material-driven and to exploit children like never before.

            This past summer I worked at our local Jewish Community Center’s daycare.  In my experience there, I saw hundreds of different products that children consume: Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse, Thomas the Train, Dora the Explorer, Yo Gabba Gabba!...the list goes on.  One that stood out to me in particular was Disney’s Cars.  Disney/Pixar’s big screen hit has become a popular obsession among children, and they insist on having all the products. Cars products include but are not limited to:

-lunch boxes

-sneakers

-toys

-clothes (shirts, shorts, underwear, sweatshirts, jackets, snow boots, even Crocs)

-backpacks

-sheets

-beds

-towels

-books

-figurines

-pop-up play tent

-stickers

-bathing suits

-diapers

-baby wipes

-folders, notebooks, pencils

-juice boxes

-fruit snacks

-yogurt

            Upon further research of Cars, I came across the website.  It features videos, games, activities, and cartoons for children, all of which sound seemingly harmless.  It also features Cars products, blu-rays and DVDs’, video games, downloads, and “Cars Land”, which is Cars’ own part of California’s Disney Adventure Park.  Their website is blatantly trying to draw kids in and introduce them to products they’ll demand from their parents.  They advertise their theme park so children will ask their parents to take them.  They use videos and games to lure kids there in the first place, and them bombard them with product advertisements.  I found it interesting that when I clicked on the “videos” link it brought me to a page with one option: buy.  

            Growing up I was a “Barney child”.  I was obsessed with the big purple dinosaur and his caring ways.  Barney was an imaginative, loveable, and wise character that always taught right from wrong, and that “sharing is caring”.  Barney was a show that taught simple lessons of morality to children, like fairness and equality, or that everyone is special.  Children starring in the show set an example for how to behave.  It engaged children with songs and always exuded positive and encouraging messages. Barney and Friends was a great program.

            Unfortunately, children aren’t watching shows like Barney anymore, and their favorite characters expand into every other facet of their lives through the products they feature.  I think this idea of spectacular consumption, in which products span into our everyday life, was just beginning.  I had Barney VHS tapes, a few t-shirts, a beach towel, a cup, and one stuffed Barney doll.  I was living large with my Barney gear, and yet if I was a kid today I would feel deprived.  The amount of branded products children own today has multiplied since I was a kid.  Even things as simple as toothbrushes and Band-Aids feature some popular children’s program.

            There has also been a shift in the types of products being consumed by kids due to advances in technology.  When I was a kid we played games outside like kick the can, red rover, cops and robbers, mother may I, and crack the whip.  We played board games and only sometimes watched movies or played on computers.  Today every kid can use a computer.  There are computer games for all ages, as well as video games.  Children are playing on their Xbox, Play Station, or Wii, which they can buy games for that feature their favorite programs, like Cars.  Instead of playing outside, kids can spend countless hours with that same product.  When I was young we played with Barbies, Furbys’ and stuffed animals.  We were exposed to some branding, but we certainly were not drowning in it.  Today children want the products that promote their favorite character, and they want more.

            Programs like Cars are becoming a part of our daily lives, and these programs are teaching kids to be consumers.  As discussed in “Consuming Children”, children’s programming is becoming increasingly materialistic and basically just features a lot of “THINGS”.  Children are introduced to this consumer culture and encouraged to engage.  All of the characters in Cars, are in fact cars themselves.  The characters kids are looking up to now are gas-guzzling machines instead of big purple dinosaurs.  The cars go a step further to teach kids branding.  It shows them different types of cars, and tells them how to think about each. They do this subliminally by creating a likeable character that kids get attached to, and thus the program has branded itself, and encouraged consumption. 

Every kid knows and loves “Lightning McQueen”, and they’ll want every product he’s on. Programs like this teach children that material things are important, and also how to think of themselves.

           Children’s programs are teaching kids how to think about and identify themselves within the larger culture.  They teach children what’s cool to wear, and what defines a nerd.  They teach them what body types are most desirable, and which are not.  They teach them what cars are the nicest, and most expensive.  They teach them to attach positive or negative meaning to material things to measure self-worth.  They teach children stereotypes.  In the movie Cars, producers use stereotypical cars to match stereotypical personalities.

Fillmore: your stereotypical hippie; a Volkswagon van

Sally: your stereotypical lovely and desirable female character , girlfriend to the protagonist, voiced by Bonnie Hunt, attorney; a Porsche Carrera

Luigi and Guido: your stereotypical Italians, speak only Italian, work changing tires; a Fiat
 

Ramone: your stereotypical black character, paints cars; a Chevrolet Impala Lowrider (which bounces up and down.)

Tow Mater: your stereotypical redneck, voiced by Larry the Cable Guy, protagonist's best friend; a rusty, beat-up, not-branded pick-up truck.

            Programs like Cars teach children stereotypes consistent with our larger culture.  At a young age they are being taught how to view society and to lead a consumer lifestyle.  They are essentially being taught how to think.  Children’s programing puts an emphasis on material goods and encourages them to be life-long consumers.