From the category archives:

Advertising+Media

More on Consuming Kids

I wrote a while ago about the Nag Factor chapter from Consuming Kids, after my mom watched the documentary The Corporation and passed along some choice, yet disturbing, factoids. I wanted to take you back to the very beginning of Consuming Kids: as I’ve said before, it’s the book that I consider to be the [...]

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LIFE vs. Manufactured Culture

It’s a rare and wonderful gift when I come across something that perfectly and eloquently communicates what I have in my gut.  I find that my explanations to people of what Red Pill is all about are often clumsy and unsatisfying.  I can find absolutely no information about the author of the following quote, Oak [...]

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Understanding The Nag Factor: Are You an “Indulger” or a “Conflicted” Parent?

My mom recently watched a documentary entitled “The Corporation” and sent me a few choice factoids from the film to share with all of you: Marketers play to the developmental levels of a child in their marketing strategies They hire child psychologists to devise ways to sell They spend $12 billion a year on research [...]

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Be Wary of Greenwashing

Those of us who are diligently trying to make lifestyle and consumer choices that have a more positive impact on the environment and its inhabitants are, of course, always on the lookout for products that help us accomplish this goal.  But advertising is advertising, and the ad agencies that design campaigns to convince us that [...]

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The Holidays are Here – Can You REMAIN CONSCIOUS?

As if the holidays weren’t overwhelming already, here’s the Red Pill Challenge: REMAIN CONSCIOUS.  This is no small task either, but if you can keep your wits about you and not let the holiday machine go into auto-pilot, you could make the season so much more joyous – what it’s meant to be anyway, right? [...]

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The Red Pill Summer Reading & Watching List

Red Pill Papa and I are getting ready to hang the “Gone Fishin’” sign, as school ends, our extensive summer travel begins (including an in-person Red Pill Confab in New York!) and based on the last three weeks, our realization that keeping our regular posting schedule over the summer is not — ahem — realistic. [...]

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Food, Inc.: 4 Quotes, 4 Steps, 3 Boycotts, 1 Promise

I’ve now watched Food, Inc. And I’m sorry I was so flip about it when I posted on Monday.  Overall, right now, I can only characterize the way I feel as weird.  I feel weird.  Creepy and weird.  Yet at the same time, I also feel grateful, galvanized and newly motivated.  Grateful that despite what [...]

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Plastic Bags, Part 3: The Good News, Plus Cute Reusables for Your Kids

Just joining us?  Catch up by reading Part 1 and Part 2 of this 3-part series. *** So now, here’s the good news on the plastic bag issue: governments and organizations are starting to take measures to encourage (or demand) decreased consumption of disposable plastic bags.  San Francisco literally outlawed them – over two years ago.  D.C. [...]

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Jamie, Dawg, Nancy and You

It’s funny how related things often end up in my lap at the same time, and the message I get from them is somehow greater than the sum of the parts.  This weekend, we finally watched the preview episode of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, and then I picked up the latest issue of The Week

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What Solves the Kids & Advertising Problem: Education, or Avoidance?

I love what Red Pill Papa is doing with his daughter (see his “New Study …” post), teaching her to recognize the persuasive intent behind commercials and to understand that despite the ads’ claims, a particular food or toy will not bring her everlasting happiness (quite the contrary, of course). What I’ve done is a [...]

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