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[ Marketing news and other sick stuff ]

All babies may look alike, but just wait until they can talk. Western International Media has published a study called "The Nag Factor" to figure out the different "nagging styles" kids use to pressure their parents to buy. Indulgers (29%) give their kids everything they want. Kids' Pals (15%) want to have fun like their offspring. Conflicted (22%) buy out of guilt and contain a high proportion of single or divorced parents. Bare Necessities (32%) have the highest median household income, yet are the least likely to give into kids' pleas. According to the study, it's the quality--not the quantity--of nagging that counts. "Importance nagging," a form of manipulation where a kid argues a need ("I'll die if I can't go on Space Mountain!") increased purchases of food and beverages, CD-ROMs, and visits to theme parks by 42%. (Brandweek, 4/13/98)

Super Jockey is a Japanese comedy/game show in which celebrities compete in eating disgusting flavors of ice cream, playing charades, etc. Not terribly unlike American Gladiators except for one thing: the show's unique plan for giving sponsors air time. Instead of paying for commercials, sponsors can earn a spot by bringing bikini-clad women on to be dunked in scaldingly hot water. The longer the women can stay in the water, the longer she is allowed to deliver a commercial. Most women last three or four seconds in the heat, after which they rub ice over themselves or jump up and down in pain as the camera focuses on their reddened breasts and legs. Once they have cooled off, they can advertise whatever product they want for exactly the amount of time they were able to stay in the water. (New York Times, 7/14/98)

A decade ago, about a quarter of the nation's nursery schools had computers. Now, nearly all do. Child-care giant KinderCare Learning Centers Inc. uses computers for three- and four-year-olds at all of its facilities. Computertots offers computer training for two year olds via 238 franchises around the world. Knowledge Adventures plans to unveil JumpStart Baby in summer 1998. The product is called "lapwear"--meaning an infant may have to sit on a parents lap while playing--and it is geared to those between ages nine months and two years. (WSJ, 4/2/98)

Moms-to-Be Resource Center in Atlanta is but one of several clinics reaching out to teenagers with fun and games. Visitors can play Fetus Bingo (U is for uterus, F is for fetal-alcohol syndrome, S is for Sex . . . FETUS!); watch the "Magical Moments of Birth" video; or coddle fake, finger-sucking fetuses (three sizes available: 10 weeks, 15 week, 20 weeks). For each activity, participants rack up points: 5 for reading a "Teen Esteem" pamphlet, 35 for watching "Smokey Sue Smokes" inhale. Points can be redeemed for Avon products, Winnie-the-Pooh outfits, or other gifts. (WSJ, 1/26/98)

The following memo was sent to magazines that Coca-Cola advertises in. It's from Coke's ad agency, McCann-Erickson, and stipulates where Coke ads may be placed in the mag:

The Coca-Cola Company requires that all insertions are placed adjacent to editorial that is consistent with each brand's marketing strategy/positioning. In general, we believe that positive and upbeat editorial provides a compatible environment in which to communicate the brand's message. We consider the following subjects to be inappropriate and require that our ads placed adjacent to articles discussing the following issues:

* Hard News
* Sex related issues
* Drugs (Prescription or illegal)
* Medicine (chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, AIDS, etc.)
* Health (mental or physical medical conditions)
* Negative Diet Information (bulimia, anorexia, quick weight loss, etc.)
* Food
* Political issues
* Environmental issues
* Articles containing vulgar language
* Religion

If you have a positioning question or if an ad needs to be moved due to inappropriate editorial, you must contact the AOR immediately and provide positioning options. If an appropriate positioning option is not available, we reserve the right to omit our ad from that issue. The Coca-Cola Company also requires a minimum of 6 pages separation between competitive advertising (any non-alcoholic beverage, including water, juice, coffee, milk). If there is more than one Coca-Cola brand running in an issue of your magazine, we require 6 pages of separation.

TV news broadcasters in California had a rude awakening when KTLA broadcast a debate between candidates for governor and had their usual morning ratings double. KTLA news director Jeff Wald explained, "We had been caught up in other things and hadn't realized that this is a very interesting race." According to Wald it was "because of the May Sweeps." Wald said the sweeps "discourage political coverage in the month before the primary at all stations." (Washington Post, 5/23/98, via Newspeak)

To discourage overzealous collectors, Target employees in the Southwest have punched holes in the packaging of commemorative NASCAR race-car replicas. In the race to acquire these limited-edition cars, collectors have been paying children to locate them. Some of the kids have been lining up before stores open to get first crack at the shelves. Fistfights reportedly have broken out at some places, with kids getting knocked down in scuffles between adults. It's the same sort of mania that has been driving the Beanie Babies market, and the Kenner action-figures market before that. (San Francisco Examiner, 6/13/98)

What do Shaquille O'Neal, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Bolton, Dom DeLuise, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Kirk Douglas, John Travolta, Sarah Ferguson, Carly Simon, and Patrick Ewing have in common? They've all recently authored children's books. From Mr. Bolton's The Secret of the Lost Kingdom:

The prince told him of the mysterious warrior, who was so like himself, and of the many others who fought courageously for what they felt was rightfully theirs. "Father, I've always believed that when I fight for Mentor-ia, I fight for what is right and just. But if we are going to slaughter poorly armed men, then I must leave."

According to a Scholastic spokesman for Patrick Ewing, "He's definitely involved" in his series Patrick's Pals, explaining, "He does write." (WSJ, 5/4/98)

When it opens next year, the new Novergies Centre garbage plant will have an artist-in-residence, an exhibition hall, a teak sun deck, a view of the cathedral, even catering facilities for receptions. Unlike the U.S., which enjoys enough space to dump most of its garbage in landfill sites, Europe burns a lot of its waste. No one wants an industrial eyesore in their backyard, so town planners and municipalities are turning to architects and artists. "A community won't accept a site unless it's beautiful. It has to look like a ship or a wave," says Herve Guichaoua, a project director for Foster Wheeler Corp. (WSJ, 6/10/98)