-Caveat Lector- ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 15:30:42 -0400 From: Eric Eldred <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: books market junk food Sorry for the length; I hope this is of interest. Last week I wrote that The New York Times reported on advertising in online material for schools. This week David D. Kirkpatrick reports on the sudden explosion of snack-brand children's books. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/22/business/22TODD.html (free subscription required) The publishers and authors pay a licensing fee to the food companies, who see a novel opportunity to market to toddlers.... The books have met some resistance from specialty children's bookstores.... Some parents, educators and pediatricians object that the books will engrave snack-food brands in toddlers impressionable minds, hook them on junk food, and lead to eating problems later in life. Miriam Bar-on, the chairwoman of the public education committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a professor of pediatrics at Loyola University in Chicago, said, "I think the whole thing is revolting, to be targeting these little kids with that kind of marketing." In addition to building positive associations with foods of little nutritional value that may damage children's teeth, she said, the books encourage parents to reward their children with treats, which creates a psychologically fraught relationship with food. "You want to use food for nutrition - you don't want food to seem more powerful than it is," she said. She also warned that toddlers could choke on small candies like M & M's. But plenty of parents and teachers are embracing the new genre. Several titles have sold hundreds of thousands of copies in the last year alone. The best-selling food book, "The Cheerios Play Book," sold more than 1.2 million copies in the last two years. "We love them," said Judy Kelley, a kindergarten teacher at the Lilja school in Natick, Mass. "You hate to always use food, but it is such a hit with the kids because they can count them and then it is so rewarding for them to eat them." [Cheerios marketing was mentioned in an earlier thread on this list when they canceled inclusion of The Holy Bible in CD-ROMs in packages--"too controversial".] Kelly Eshback, head of the parent- teacher organization at the Florence Rideout Elementary School in Wilton, N.H., said the books turned snack and cereal advertisements to a worthy purpose. "Any book that they recognize for whatever reason and read and enjoy is a good thing," she added. "I guess product names are a way of life for us now." Most publishers are blase about introducing books that look like advertisements into the highchair and the classroom. "The whole issue of the commercialization of children's books, that came a lot of years earlier," said Susan Katz, publisher of HarperCollins children's division. ******************* Here is a letter from the head of Commercial Alert, to the president of the American Association of Publishers [BTW, the AAP also opposes my suit to shorten copyright term.] Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 15:53:35 -0400 From: Gary Ruskin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Organization: http://www.essential.org/alert/ To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Stop peddling junk food to children, Commercial Alert tells publishers Commercial Alert September 22, 2000 Following a report in today's New York Times that some book publishers are promoting toddler-targeted books that advertise junk food, Commercial Alert asked American Association of Publishers President Pat Schroeder to "remind the publishing industry that it exists for the nurture of children and not the commercial exploitation of them." The letter follows. Dear Ms. Schroeder: During your career in the U.S. House of Representatives, you built a reputation as an advocate for children, and you deserved it. As Chair of the Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families, you worked hard for the Family and Medical Leave Act, among many other important causes. That work included your efforts to protect children from the machinations of advertisers and marketers. For example, in 1992, you and three House colleagues asked RJR Nabisco to stop their lethal Joe Camel campaign. You work showed an awareness of the importance of nutrition to child health. For example, in 1991, you proposed an amendment to authorize a federal government-funded study on the "general health and well-being of adolescents." In your floor speech in support of the Schroeder Amendment, you said you wanted an investigation of "the health-promoting and health-threatening behaviors in which adolescents engage" -- including, specifically, "nutrition." The wheel has come around in a way that probably causes you great personal chagrin. As you know, publishers have begun to use children's books as advertisements for junk food. These books feature junk foods as characters and often involve activities that require the parent to purchase the product. "[S]nack-brand children's books have exploded in the last two years into a genre all their own," The New York Times reports, "as Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, and Scholastic have all jumped into the field. Millions of copies have been sold, with a full shelf of new titles on the way." The Times article notes that food companies see the books as a splendid vehicle for marketing junk food to toddlers. "It is a great way to get the Froot Loops brand equity into a different place, where normally you don't get exposure - taking it from the cereal aisle and into another area like learning,' said Meghan Parkhurst, a spokeswoman for Kellogg..." Publishers such as Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, and Scholastic are promoting junk food to vulnerable and unsuspecting children at a time of skyrocketing childhood obesity. About one in every five children now falls into that category. Childhood diabetes is rising too. Dr. Robin S. Goland, co-director of the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center told the Times in 1998 that "With the numbers we're starting to see, this could be the beginning of an epidemic." These book publishers are plainly exploiting children for commercial gain. Miriam Bar-on, the chairwoman of the public education committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics told the Times, "I think the whole thing is revolting, to be targeting these little kids with that kind of marketing." No less important, these publishers are degrading the concept of publishing itself. If publishers are now hucksters, and books are just ads, then we aren't just sliding down the slope. We've already hit bottom. Which means, of course, that this is a good time for your industry to pick itself up. Toddlers and children need your help once again. Please do everything in your power to urge the publishers towards the high road. Someone has to remind the publishing industry that it exists for the nurture of children and not the commercial exploitation of them. Publishers should be providers of mental and emotional nourishment, not junk food. Sincerely, Gary Ruskin Director *** WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP: Please ask American Association of Publishers President Pat Schroeder to make sure that book publishers stop peddling junk food to children. Pat Schroeder's phone is (202) 347-3375, fax is (202) 347-3690 and email is <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. *** Those of us who publish online books that children may read have a responsibility, I believe, to take account of this matter and act accordingly. Remember that many schools and libraries forbid students to access the Internet freely and find our books--"too dangerous." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent via the Book People mailing list. Posting address: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Admin. & unsubscribe address: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Charter: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/bplist/ <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
