Kidnapped: How Irresponsible Marketers Are Stealing the Minds of Your Children

by Daniel Acuff

"I’ve been waiting a long time for someone inside youth marketing to expose the industry for its unethical and manipulative practices. Kidnapped does that and The scope of the ground it covers is encyclopedic; it captures the vulnerabilities of each stage of development; and, most important, it empowers parents by offering as many do’s as don’ts. This book is terrific!” -- Barbara F. Meltz, Parenting Columnist, The Boston Globe Children Are Sitting Ducks in Today’s High-Powered World of Commercialization According to the American Psychological Association, in 2004 alone young people were targeted with over $12 billion of advertising. Childhood obesity rates are skyrocketing, and children watch close to 1,000 hours of television every year, nearly 70 percent of which has some sort of sexual content. Almost 80 percent of the video games children play promote violence as a form of casual entertainment. America’s children are under assault, according to How Irresponsible Marketers Are Stealing the Minds of Your Children, by youth marketing pioneers Daniel S. Acuff, PhD, and Robert H. Reiher, PhD. Readers will learn insights · 12 brain-based learning principles that guide child development · 15 developmental “blind spots” that make children sitting ducks for advertisers and marketers · The impact of repeated images of violence, sexuality, and substance abuse In Kidnapped , parents and educators discover how to recognize and combat unethical practices, while retailers and marketers learn how to provide healthier and more positive products and programs for our nation’s youth.

264 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2005

About the author

Daniel Acuff Ph.D. is considered to be one of the leading experts on marketing to children and kid-attractive products, programs and characters in the world. He is the author of the foundational book: What Kids Buy and Why - the Psychology of Marketing to Children. As a consultant for more than twenty-five years, he has assisted more than fifty major corporations with their kid-targeted new products and programs and their marketing. Companies include such as: Disney, Mattel, Hasbro, Nickelodeon, ABC TV, Hallmark, Kellogg's, Kraft, Nestle and Marvel. He assisted M&M Mars in the creation of the M&M characters. Dr. Acuff is the author of ten books, four screenplays and hundreds of articles focusing on the likes and dislikes of children, kids, tweens and teens.

Reviews

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. From it I got a handful of great quotes, a bushel of websites to check out, and a few book referrals. I learned about "neuromarketing" techniques (they use MRI's to track children's brain functioning while watching tv to learn exactly how to manipulate your child's desires through basic biological triggers...how disgusting!!!)and IIIO (If I remember correctly its invisible, intangible information overload--think computers).
I like that the authors support/promote healthy eating habits and exercise programs, but I found myself questioning their character(s)....They cite certain things throughout the book (which by the way is broken down by age groups) that they find to be acceptable for kids, and it seems that they themselves are guilty of some brand loyalty!
(They jock things like, teletubbies, jay jay the jet plane, baby einstein, barney and friends, dora the explorer, disney radio, disney magazines, etc...you get the idea..!)
On the back cover of the book you can find that they have years of experience in "youth research and marketing with secondary research in child development, brain research, learning theories and related fields". I immediately found myself wondering if they were the enemy. Maybe the enemy found a conscience, I don't know, but it sounds like they themselves did the heinous research on how to manipulate children into wanting this, that, and the other.
They openly admit to "training and consulting" for/with Kelloggs, Nike, Coca-cola, Mattel, Disney, Nestle, Quaker oats, M&M/mars, ABC, and Nickelodeon.....
I did learn some things that make it that much easier to turn the tv off and keep it off....advertising is aimed at your conscious and your subconscious. You (and your kids) will learn and absorb information whether you are paying attention to it or not. While this is an obvious conclusion, the book goes in depth about the how and why...both how and why it works (think brain function) and how and why big businesses are using this to their advantage.
While this was not the greatest book in the world, it did give me a good nudge in the direction of eliminating the tv from our lives completely.
....Oh, I cant forget to mention...the end of the book dances casually around a touchy subject...censorship. I agree and disagree with the authors viewpoints....I definitely think that advertisers need to be put in check! It seems unfair, and wrong of them to perform billions upon billions of dollars of advanced scientific research to learn how to better manipulate us and our children!!!!!