Echo Boom

The other day a friend of mine who is an organic farmer sent me this really interesting attachment. A detailed map of who owns what in the realm of organic food. I am posting this not to depress people but rather as a reminder that there is no magic bullet response through consumer sovereignty.

While organic food is obviously a better choice then food injectected with hormones or worse yet genetically modified, the argument of production should not be lost when we look at where the majority of organic food comes, which in my case is large farms in California - largely based on monocultures and is situated thousands of kilometres away.

Making better choices is a continous stuggle. The other day I was telling a good friend of mine that when I was doing my undergraduate degree, choices seemed easier and more black and white, now as I am a bit distanced from that world I realize increasingly that there are many more shades of gray. What annoys me, however, is that these large companies prey precisely on that unknown space.

When it comes to buying organic food, many stores now have their organic food sections. I am naturally drawn to these aisles, yet after seeing the map my friend sent me I realized that I was fooled again! So many times you think you are buying a product from a local company when in fact it is actually just a subsiduary of a much larger company. How is that my precious Sunrise organic tofu acutally belongs to General Mills? Or my Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey is owned by Unilever? Or my Miss Vicki's are owned by Pepsi? etc...

It is important to be aware and informed that these large corporations are trying to capitalize on the fact that many people are extremely disturbed by multinationals' on going pursuit to gain control over the global food chain. It is our task to realize that when we see brands like 'Back to Nature' or 'Farm Foods' that they are actually exactly what we are seeking to avoid. Hopefully this attachment will help you with this on going collective struggle!

I must apologize to anyone who was reading this site with any regularity. It’s still operational and I promise to be much more diligent in the future. Today I’m entering into my 16th week of pregnancy and have sort of taken the last few months off to indulge my morning sickened state, which by the way, when they say ‘morning’ it’s a myth! Really its an all day sickness that festers and makes it impossible to read two sentences let along write any. So there you have it! My excuse, my new excuse for everything – I’m pregnant.

Today I’ve been summoned back to my computer to bring you the ground breaking news that Viacom has just purchased Neopets for $160 Million. Why is this so significant you may ask? Well if you haven’t already visited the Neopets website I highly recommend a peek. This on-line haven for kids has a total number 70 million registered users that generate over 5 billion hits a month….yes you read right a month!

What is so special about this website? Essentially, Neopets are an evolution of the tamagotchi; on-line pets that need to be played with, fed and cared for. Yet instead of having a digital electronic egg that you have to carry around everywhere you go and then deal with the heartache of being a neglectful computer parent when the bloody thing turns into an ugly alien instead of a beautiful duck, Neopets stay in the computer and are much easier to take care of. What’s more you get to create your own little pet by choosing from 49 different species. This way you can make it as unique as you are. Then once you have chosen your Neopet you get to travel around the virtual world of Neopia and play computer games for Neopoints, which is what you use in the Neostores to get the appropriate commodities for your little electronic loved one.

Why is Viacom so interested in Neopets? This answer is straightforward, namely it gives them access to their most coveted and lucrative demographic - kids. While they already hold a significant part of this market with Nickelodeon, the number one children’s website in North America, like any cultural media conglomerate it is always looking for content and new ways to cross promote and extend its brand. Neopets are the perfect match. Not to mention this website is already a huge revenue generator.

It is important to pay attention to these kinds of on-line virtual communities, particularly the “sticky” or frequently visited ones. Since the 1990’s direct marketing, promotions and sponsorships have eclipsed the television as the preferred advertising conduits to reach children. What’s more, central to new marketing techniques is developing different ways to forge strong relationship between the kids and the brand.

While websites like Neopets already has many of its own imbedded relationships with products such as General Mills cereal, where a number of the advergames feature cereal characters like the Trix Rabbit or the Lucky Charms leprechaun, its most important contribution and perhaps the reason it is so valuable is the on-line of marketing research that is built right into the website via surveys. While kids unknowingly play games they are asked for all sorts of information about themselves. This is extremely appealing to a conglomerate like Viacom, particularly as Nickelodeon spends the most revenue compared to any other station on market research in order to reach kids in the most effective manners. If you follow this link you can read about all of the techniques used by marketers to access child markets and build relationships with them.

So there you go Neopets. If anyone out there has come across any other similar communities I’d love if you would send me some links!

As I lay in bed this morning listening to the news, I must admit feeling a little bit disheartened when I learned that many girls, some as young as nine years old are now using steroids. What’s more, these girls aren’t just using steroids to look more fit but as a means to control their weight... This is usually the moment where I put my hands in the air and say ‘what is the world coming to’ and my poor husband is left listening to me as I generally take the next few moments to go on an appropriate rant.

Today, however, I’ve decided to share a few thoughts, as the issue of body image is a serious one. This is a concern that is by no means new, yet what has changed is that kids are starting to worry about their bodies at younger and younger ages. What’s more, this issue, that is traditionally associated with girls, is now having an impact on young boys. Many ads found in teen magazines such as teen people, teen cosmo, or teen vogue show young tweens and teens who are impossibly thin and buff. This coupled with the specific tactics used by marketers who have spent significant time and resources mapping the inner workings of the tween landscape; leaves kids with even more social pressures and anxieties then ever before.

Alissa Quart, author of Branded also points out that there is a noticeable increase in the number of young boys who are taking steroids. One of the most popular body building websites for tweens and teens is teenbodybuilding.com. Here kids can read testimonials about other tweens and teens who have successfully ‘pumped themselves up’. If they like what they read they can purchase any number of suppliments such as creatine, anabolic flavones or various amino acid mixtures to ensure faster results for their workouts. Oh yeah and one other thing – after doing a bit of research, I found out that none of these suppliments have gone through any medical testing to assure that they are indeed safe with no side effects…