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aCTIvITy 2.8
continued
23 More than 1,000 doctors, including Altman, recently signed a petition that asked McDonald’s to stop using Ronald to market to kids. “People have a right to sell and advertise,” he says. “But where do we draw the line?”
24 McDonald’s — which recently announced it will modify its Happy Meals in September by reducing the number of fries and adding apple slices — has no plans to dump Ronald. “Ronald McDonald is an ambassador for McDonald’s and an ambassador for good,” CEO Jim Skinner told shareholders in May at the company’s annual meeting. “Ronald McDonald is going nowhere.”
Chunk 6
77 kids entertains shoppers
25 But American Eagle is going somewhere. And if any retailer exemplifies the techie new world of marketing to kids, it may be 77kids by American Eagle.
26 The outside-the-box store that it just opened at New York’s Times Square sells midpriced clothing targeting boys and girls from toddler to 12. But the heart of the target is the 10-year-old. Getting a 10-year-old’s attention is all about whiz-bang technology — like the chain’s virtual ticket to rock stardom.
27 In the center of the Times Square store sits a “Be a Rock Star” photo booth. It’s all about music and tech. The booth has a big-screen TV that shows a video of a rock band composed of 10- to 12-year-old kids singing “I Wanna Rock” by Twisted Sister. Any tween, with parental permission, can download his or her photo and substitute it on the screen for one of the rock stars.
28 “Our brand ideology is: Think like a mom, see like a kid,” explains Betsy Schumacher chief merchandising officer at 77kids. “It made sense to us to have technology in the store that speaks to a kid’s experience — and how they play.”
29 Each 77kids store also has two iPad-like touch-screens that allow kids to virtually try on most of the clothing in the store. Who needs a dressing room when you
can download your own photo and have it instantly matched online with that cool motorcycle vest or hip pair of distressed jeans? The same touch-screen also allows kids to play instant DJ, where they can mess online with the very same music that’s being played in the store — slowing it down, speeding it up or even voting it off the playlist.
30 Nearly nine in 10 kids who shop at 77kids try one of these technologies while visiting the store, Schumacher estimates. The company makes no bones about
laser targeting 10-year-olds. “The point is to keep a kid engaged so that shopping is enjoyable, Schumacher says.” Kids are looking for entertainment when they come to the mall.”
Chunk 7
Ex-adman wants change
31 Marketers, in turn, are looking for kids. And profits.
My Notes
32 It isn’t just advertising watchdogs who think it’s time for a change. So does
the guy who two years ago was arguably the ad world’s top creative executive, The English word ideology
Alex Bogusky. The agency that he has since left, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, has created campaigns for such kid-craving companies as Burger King and Domino’s. Now, with the ad biz in his rearview mirror, Bogusky suggests it may be time for marketers to rethink.
Word CoNNeCTIoNs
Cognates
means “a set of ideas and beliefs.” It has the same meaning as the Spanish word ideología.
Unit 2 • What Influences My Choices? 115
retailer: a person or business that sells goods directly to the consumer
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