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February 2nd, 2012 | Elizabeth Ben-Ishai
Report: Cash-Strapped Schools Raise Only Minimal Revenues Through In-School Advertising
Faced with state funding cuts and shrinking budgets, many school districts across the country are seeking to raise funds by selling commercial advertising on school properties. Ads appear on school lockers, lunch trays, wall spaces, athletic facilities, websites, school buses and elsewhere. But the risks to children of commercializing schools far outweigh the miniscule revenues raised by these schemes, according to a report released today by Public Citizen.
In “School Commercialism: High Costs, Low Revenues,” Public Citizen found that school advertising programs are providing less than half of one percent of school revenues, and often far less. Public Citizen surveyed the nation’s 25 largest school districts; 10 reported that they maintained in-school advertising programs or were considering such programs. No program reported raising more than $250,000. No program reported raising more than .03 percent of the school system’s overall budget.
Continue Reading...February 9th, 2012 | Jessica Guynn | Los Angeles Times
Watchdog sues FTC over new Google privacy policy
A consumer watchdog has escalated its efforts to block Google from rolling out a controversial new privacy policy that would allow the Internet search giant to harvest more information about its users.
Continue Reading...February 9th, 2012 | BRIAN STELTER | The New York Times
Youths Are Watching, but Less Often on TV
Television is America’s No. 1 pastime, with an average of four hours and 39 minutes consumed by every person every day.
But more and more young people are tuning in elsewhere.
Continue Reading...February 9th, 2012 | Kate Kaye | ClickZ
Pharma Dives Deeper Into Social Marketing
A much-anticipated Facebook game from Boehringer Ingelheim, makers of Dulcolax, Zantac, and an array of prescription medications, is just one example of how pharma brands are plowing ahead with digital campaigns. Despite hand wringing about a lack of clear regulatory guidance, BI, Pfizer, and others were already breaking new ground before new draft social media guidelines were unveiled by the Food and Drug Administration in December.
Continue Reading...February 9th, 2012 | Stuart Elliott | The New York Times
Nickelodeon Adds a Sponsor for Programming for Mothers
A third major marketer has agreed to become a charter sponsor of new programming from Viacom on television and online, which is aimed at mothers who watched the company’s Nickelodeon cable channel when they themselves were children.
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