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May 29, 2005

Attention Students! Your Proctor Today is Procter & Gamble

The New York Times had a fine article today on Procter & Gamble's sponsored sex "education" materials, which are used by 85% of all fifth grade classrooms in the United States. Of course, the P&G "curriculum" comes with product samples: Old Spice antiperspirant for boys, and Secret antipersirant with some Always pads for girls.

The "curriculum" is full of enlightening "lessons," such as "I used to be really worried about sweating a lot, but since I started using an antiperspirant every morning, I'm dry all day.''

Here's today's New York Times article.

Sex Ed, Provided By Old Spice
by Marek Fuchs

In the spring, county schools generally start preparing fifth graders for the transition to adulthood. In many districts, there are middle-school orientation visits, and there is also a preliminary birds-and-bees talk.

Many of us may have squeamish memories of our schools' efforts at enlightening us about our soon-to-dawn sexuality. I remember being part of a crowd herded into the auditorium at the H.C. Crittenden in Armonk to watch a grainy film. I was seated next to a girl I had a wild crush on, and as the earnest narrator touched upon the subject of sweat glands, I nearly spontaneously combusted with embarrassment.

Embarrassment is part of the experience, perhaps inevitably; but in many Westchester schools -- indeed, at 85 percent of the fifth-grade classrooms in the nation -- Procter & Gamble is, too. At least, that's the figure according to Michelle Vaeth, a spokeswoman, who verified that the company provides an education package with reading material, a video and product samples: an Old Spice stick for the boys, and a Secret stick plus Always pads for the girls.

The title of the package is ''Always Changing: About You,'' and the subtitle is ''Puberty and Stuff.''

Here's a sample of the content, from Page 13 of the pamphlet: ''I used to be really worried about sweating a lot, but since I started using an antiperspirant every morning, I'm dry all day.''

How best to advise fifth graders on sweating is debatable. But when the adviser is a consumer-product behemoth trading educational material for access to a captive audience, well, that occasions second thoughts.

''It's just wrong to use compulsory-attendance laws to compel students to review ads,'' said Gary Ruskin, the executive director of Commercial Alert, a watchdog group based in Portland, Ore. ''A school's mission is to teach children to read, write, add and think. Not to shop.''

The first real outcry against what many parents perceived as a commercial incursion into the classroom came 15 years ago when Channel One, the Chris Whittle creation, installed televisions in schools to deliver news in exchange for advertisements. Supporters said the commercials were merely bankrolling the content and asserted that children were hardly naifs living in a commercial vacuum. But many others were using terms like ''devil's bargain.''

Over the years, the deals have kept coming, with progressively less fuss: advertisements on gymnasium scoreboards and wrapping paper for textbooks; pacts to vend a particular brand of soda; even signage on the roofs of schools near airports, said William Chipps of the International Events Group Sponsorship Report, a trade publication that addresses sponsorship issues.

''It's just happening more and more in schools, given the budget shortfalls,'' Mr. Chipps said.

But even parents who have witnessed this trend disapprovingly probably hadn't anticipated Procter & Gamble's pushing product samples while holding forth to fifth graders on sweat glands.

Most of the ''lesson plan'' is pretty tame. Aside from the product handouts, there's not much you wouldn't see elsewhere. That is all the more reason, Mr. Ruskin argued, to eliminate Procter & Gamble's involvement. ''There's nothing in the P&G material that couldn't be done without the commercial content,'' he said.

The company says it is merely trying to help itself while also helping the community. It has never pushed the program into schools, Ms. Vaeth added; it has merely accommodated the many schools that have signed up. And with limited resources and teachers who already juggle course material on different subjects, she said, a ready-made package comes in handy.

Kelly Adams, who teaches middle schoolers health and physical education in Briarcliff, says she doesn't see the harm in having a corporate source; students are so used to being bombarded by ads and fads that they will not become lifelong Old Spice users just because they are given a free stick.

But Mr. Ruskin says that's not the point. ''At school, children are taught to obey,'' he said. ''So anytime the authority of the school is harnessed, it can be very influential.'' In this case, he sees the corporate sponsor as too easily preying on children's insecurities -- whether about menstruation or perspiration -- for financial gain.

''There is a special vulnerability in discussions about uncomfortable subjects at times -- like fifth grade -- when students are so impressionable,'' is how he put it. ''That's the principal reason why corporations love corporate indentured education.''

Posted by Gary Ruskin at 04:24 PM | Comments (5)

May 25, 2005

FCC Commissioner Endorses Commercial Alert’s Call for Disclosure of Covert Commercial Propaganda on TV

In a speech today, Federal Communications Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein called for "clear and prominent" disclosure of covert commercial propaganda on TV, including product placements and paid shills.

Adelstein said “In fall 2003, a group called Commercial Alert asked us to take a number of different actions regarding product placement, and its filing, and the recent press reports I mentioned, clearly indicate that the time has come for us to step up our enforcement in this area.”

“We are greatly encouraged by Commissioner Adelstein’s defense of viewers’ right to know by whom they are being persuaded,” said Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert.

Take action now: tell the FCC to require disclosure of covert commercial pitches on TV. Click here:
http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/commercialalert/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=775

Commercial Alert’s petition for rule-making to establish adequate disclosure of product placement on television is at http://www.commercialalert.org/fcc.pdf.

Posted by Gary Ruskin at 03:09 PM | Comments (1)

May 16, 2005

After Sweet Industry Gift, American Diabetes Assn. Claims Sugar Has Nothing to Do With Diabetes

After the American Diabetes Association received a large gift from major manufacturer of sugar-sweetened beverages, its top medical official is claiming that sugar has nothing to do with diabetes. In an interview published in today’s Corporate Crime Reporter, Richard Kahn, the chief scientific and medical officer with the American Diabetes Association said “What is the evidence that sugar itself has anything to do with diabetes? There is no evidence,”

On April 21, the ADA announced a “three-year, multi-million dollar alliance” with Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages, which produces sweetened soft drinks that are implicated in the epidemic of obesity and diabetes in the United States. Its parent company is Cadbury Schweppes, which is the third largest soft-drink manufacturer in the world, after Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.

“Saying that sugar has nothing to do with diabetes is like saying that tobacco has nothing to do with emphysema,” said Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert. “The American Diabetes Association has been so corrupted that they have sunk to the mentality of ‘tobacco scientists’ who denied the link between tobacco and lung cancer.”

Incredibly, when Kahn was asked whether sugary drinks have anything to do with diabetes, he responded “No one has a clue of whether they do or don’t.”

There is ample evidence linking diets high in sugar, and sugary drinks, with obesity. For example, a study in the Lancet, titled "Relation Between Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Drinks and Childhood Obesity: a Prospective, Observational Analysis" found that the likelihood of obesity in children “increased 1.6 times for each additional can of sugar-sweetened drink that they consumed every day.”

Posted by Gary Ruskin at 11:20 AM | Comments (6)

May 10, 2005

DC Metro Unveils the "McDonald's Train"

The Washington Metro sunk to a new low today, with ad-wrapped cars, including the "McDonald's train."

As if that's not bad enough, they are also planning tunnel ads, TV screens with commercials on some trains, and are contemplating selling naming rights to Metro stations.

Tell the Metro's board of directors to keep the ad creep out of the Metro. Click here:
http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/commercialalert/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=694

Here's today's article in the Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/09/AR2005050901101_pf.html

Cash-Strapped Metro Rolls Out Ad-Wrapped Trains; Some Decry 'Visual Spam,' Others Welcome Revenue
by David Cho

Like giant green billboards rolling down train tracks, Metro's first rail cars wrapped completely in an advertisement debuted on the Orange Line yesterday in an effort the transit agency hopes will bring much-needed revenue.

The "McDonald's train" -- a great, big ad for the fast-food restaurant chain's new fruit salad -- is only the beginning of a major advertising push by the cash-strapped and rapidly aging transportation system. For the 29 years since Metrorail began operating, its trains have never ventured past the predictable silver and brown shells. Now, Metro officials say, the only limit to their exterior design is a marketer's imagination.

The new look started yesterday in New Carrollton with a spinach green and radish red background to McDonald's bright golden arches on the sliding doors. The ad campaign is scheduled to last three months, but Metro officials are hoping other deep-pocketed corporations will follow.

Coming soon will be television screens inside trains and buses that will broadcast news, sports scores and, of course, commercials. Tunnel ads -- a series of panel drawings that will appear to move like so many flip cards as the train passes -- could be in place as early as the fall. ATMs and banner ads will debut in stations soon.

Owners of local McDonald's restaurants paid $54,000 to put the ad and the chain's motto, "I'm Lovin' It," on the trains. Appearing beneath the windows are the phrases "New Fruit & Walnut Salad" and "get a fruit buzz."

Metro generates about $29 million annually through advertising on buses and trains. But with a budget of more than $1 billion, transit officials are hoping for more.

To some riders, the ad was an ironic reminder of a Metro rule that is vigorously enforced: It is illegal to eat on the train.

"They are taunting you," said Kevin Fry, president of the District-based anti-commercialization group Scenic America. "Not only can you not eat your McDonald's fruit salad on the Metro system, but now you can't even enjoy the system itself."

Fry called the new ads "visual spam on wheels."

"It really is sad to see one of the most beautiful transportation systems wrap its trains in garish advertising," said Fry, who added that he has been using Metrorail since it began in 1976.

But Kevin Moore, who heads a passenger advocacy group called MetroRiders.org, countered that "it's absolutely appropriate that Metro explores and takes advantage of other sources of revenue."

"When Metro does something like this and they are bringing in more money, then I have no problem with it," Moore added, "as long as it keeps reliability up and fares down."

Metro Board Chairman T. Dana Kauffman said he isn't crazy about turning Metro trains into something akin to an ad-laden NASCAR racecar. But budget shortfalls are prompting Metro to find nontraditional ways to raise revenue.

The money from the McDonald's ad will cover part of the cost to upgrade the monitors that tell passengers waiting on station platforms when the trains will arrive. Sensors will be added so that the operations center is alerted when those monitors break down.

Other advertising revenue will be used to improve service, clean trains and replace old equipment.

Metro raised fares in each of the past two years, with the last increase making up a $23.4 million budget shortfall. This year, local jurisdictions have been asked to cover an 8 percent increase in the agency's proposed budget, which topped $1 billion for the first time, Metro officials said.

Buses will not be spared from the billboard material. Most already have a panel ad on the side. And last year, buses wrapped in advertising began with an ad for the German Embassy.

"We are at a time now we have our limitations on our funding, and we are looking at creative ways to bring in revenue into the system," said Leona Agouridis, Metro's assistant general manager for communications.

Besides, she added, several passengers riding on the new McDonald's train told her yesterday morning that seeing a giant fruit salad ad on the Orange Line "was really cool."

Posted by Gary Ruskin at 08:40 AM | Comments (2)