Disney to Restrict Advertising of Junk Food

Posted on June 5, 2012 at 8:37 am

The New York Times reports that:

The Walt Disney Company, in an effort to address concerns about entertainment’s role in childhood obesity, plans to announce on Tuesday that all products advertised on its child-focused television channels, radio stations and Web sites must comply with a strict new set of nutritional standards.

A Mickey Check identifies products that meet Disney’s nutrition standards.

Cereal will have to contain less than 10 grams of sugar a serving to be advertised on a show like “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.”

The restrictions on ads extend to Saturday-morning cartoons on ABC stations owned by Disney. Under the new rules, products like Capri Sun drinks and Kraft Lunchables meals — both current Disney advertisers — along with a wide range of candy, sugared cereal and fast food, will no longer be acceptable advertising material.

This is encouraging news, mostly because it will encourage companies that want to advertise to kids to make products that meet healthier nutritional standards.

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Advertising Marketing to Kids

What They Changed in the “Five Year Engagement Trailer” and Why

Posted on April 25, 2012 at 11:43 am

It is not unusual for trailers to have slightly different takes than the final version of the movie or even to include moments that do not actually appear in the movie at all.  Trailers are prepared before the movie is completed.  And there are often amendments in the trailer to make movie’s edgier material acceptable for general audiences. This trailer has all of the above:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuDpU1vzekE

A couple of these moments are not in the film and the figure on that apron worn by Jason Segal is not wearing underpants in the movie.

But the television commercial for “The Five Year Engagement” has one other curious change.  In the version I have here, the little girl says, “I’m Pocahontas!” before shooting the crossbow.  On the television commercial version, she says, “I’m Katniss!”  Of course it makes more sense for a little girl to know the American History legend and star of a Disney movie than the lead in a series of books for teenagers and a movie rated PG-13.  But for some reason, the marketing geniuses behind this film thought it would sell more tickets to insert a timely “Hunger Games” reference into the commercial despite the fact that it is not in the movie and does not really make any sense.

 

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Mad Men-era Ads in Newsweek

Mad Men-era Ads in Newsweek

Posted on March 24, 2012 at 8:00 am

Newsweek salutes the long-awaited return of “Mad Men” with a special issue this week, including examples of real and unabashedly sexist ads that ran in the magazine back in the 1960’s.  These are what the real Mad Men of the era were working on, along with some pioneering and underpaid Mad Women like Peggy.

As another ad of the era would say, “We’ve come a long way, baby.”  (Of course, that was an ad for a “women’s” cigarette!“)

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