Targeted Advertising in Primary School Books

[hugh jarce]

Firstly
The Publisher:The Educational Company of Ireland(EDCO)
a member of the smurfit kappa group.First published 2000
Title:Sunny Street:Expert at English B(for 3rd class 7/8 year old)

Tucked away in the middle of this school book are 9 pages of what can best be described as advertising..targeted advertising ,with an equal number of question pages relating to the poster style ads,under the heading 'Be.. a media expert'.

Thease supposed examples are operating companies (with sponsors logo's included all in full colour)..and here are some of the questions that nearly made my eyes pop out of my head!

Zoo:Q:where would you buy gifts?
Q:where could you book a meal?
(It gets worse)

Art Gallery
:Q:At the bottom of the poster you will see two logos.Do you think they are suitable and,if so,why?.Which one do you prefere and why?Draw it in your copy(the logos are the sponsors logos ,one is a very large bank,a statement of this sponsor are attached and underlined at the bottom of the poster)

A well known American restaurant and bar:
Q:In what restaurant would you get this menu?(yes..it's a real menu!!)
Q:What dish would you choose from the menu?
Q:Look at the desert menu.Choose your favourite desert.
Q:choose you favourite drink.
Q:What is free on the menu?A:Baby food.

A well known water park/swimming pool
Q:where is(company named)?
Q:What clothes would you bring to(company named)
Q:Name three special attractions at(company named)
(the repetitive naming of the company)

A well known Holiday Village
Q:What kind of holiday would you have at(company named)?
Q:In what activities could you take part?
Q:Which activity would you like best?

There you have it..
Shackled along with the primary times mag'(loads of ad's there!) given out free in schools ..
and the 'Junior Achievement Awards' where two rep's from a large well known bank have a 'chat' with our children about families..

..i'm off to get sick

[lostexpectation]

can you scan it ? or send it to these guys
Campaign for Commercial-Free Education

[hugh jarce]

thanks for the link,i'll get it up here soon..

[He3]

hugh jarce? I'm sure you are too hard on yourself Have another look.

[Mitsui]

This is creepy sh*t and no mistake. Very disturbing. These b*ggers are like cockroaches, creeping in wherever there's an unguarded entryway. I assume this was all approved by the Dept of Ed., of course? In any other country I'd wonder who was asleep at the wheel there when that book was submitted for approval. But in Ireland, for all we know, it might be departmental policy.

[hugh jarce]

..here's the link to some photo's

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/inde...albumId=652359

[lostexpectation]

did you cover over the dennys logo?

it is as bad as you said.

[ManOfReason]

The question is: Do many/any schools actually use these? The ones that do should be named and shamed.

[spraoi]

Aren't people getting a little carried away here? You are not looking at some sinister plot. The post-primary English curriculum has long had a section devoted to media - the idea being that the child will disect/analyse sample adverts/posters and come to understand what an advert is trying to achieve, how it is slanted etc. I welcome the addition of this type of exercise in the primary curriculum. For too long children have been exploited and didn't even know it was happening. At least now the child can be a little more educated about the tricks and turns of the advertising industry and will hopefully be appropriately cynical!

[hugh jarce]

did you cover over the dennys logo?

it is as bad as you said.

yes it is as bad as i said..maybe you might need to have the book in your hands to appreciate where i'm coming from,but it is how i outlined above.
(there's no dennys logo)