CCFC to BusRadio: Stop Promoting
90210 to Six-Year-Olds
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free
Childhood (CCFC) and other advocates for children are demanding
that BusRadio stop advertising the highly sexualized new
television show 90210 to children as young as six. 90210 is prominently advertised on BusRadio’s website, BusRadio.com,
which is promoted throughout the company’s broadcasts on school
buses transporting elementary, middle, and high school students.
The ads urge children to tune in to tonight’s premiere of
90210, which the CW Network describes as a “sexier” and
“more provocative” update on the popular series from the
nineties. CCFC has launched
a letter-writing campaign calling for BusRadio to remove all
90210 promotions from the website, including a trailer
that teases several sex scenes and a banner ad, linking to the
shows website, which features stars of the show in sexualized
poses.
“It’s distressing enough that BusRadio
forces captive audiences of children to listen to advertising on
school buses,” said CCFC’s co-founder and director, Dr. Susan
Linn. “That they’re using their website to market sexualized TV
programming to children as young as six is one more signal that
schools should be wary of delivering students to such an
unscrupulous company.”
BusRadio is already controversial. The
company, which has a 16% approval rating among moms, plans to
“take targeted student marketing to the next level” through
commercialized radio broadcasts on school buses.
“BusRadio sells itself to school districts
as an age-appropriate alternative to FM radio, but once again
they’ve demonstrated that they don’t know or don’t care what
age-appropriate means,” said Jim Metrock of Obligation, Inc.,
nonprofit advocacy organization that monitors BusRadio.
Seminole County, Florida recently terminated their relationship
with BusRadio when the company refused to stop playing songs
from albums with parental warnings for explicit lyrics and
content. Advertisers on BusRadio’s elementary school broadcasts
have included the highly sexualized Bratz brand.
BusRadio broadcasts repeatedly encourage young
students to visit its BusRadio.com website where inappropriate
media, including Mature-rated video games and now 90120,
are promoted.
Marketing 90210 to tweens and young
children is an essential component of the CW’s marketing
strategy. In addition to the BusRadio ads, the show is being
promoted through licensed merchandise such as backpacks, school
supplies, and clothing.
“Children are being assaulted with
sexualized media and marketing that influences their self-image,
perceptions of others, and behaviors,” said CCFC co-founder, Dr.
Diane Levin, coauthor of So Sexy, So Soon. “By using
school-supported media to advertise 90210, BusRadio is
undermining the efforts of parents who wish to shield their
children from the harmful effects of popular culture.”
Added Parents Television Council President
Tim Winter: “The CW Network’s actions speak volumes. There can
be no mistake that the network is bound and determined to
promote graphic, adult-themed material directly to children.
They are doing so openly and wantonly – even going so far as to
publicly admit in their ad copy that their programming is wholly
inappropriate for children. And with their new BusRadio campaign
they are now targeting their promotional messages at an audience
that is only comprised of children. The CW’s recent
marketing efforts have regressed from a negligent disregard of
the public interest to a reckless disregard; and now it is an
intentional disregard.”
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free
Childhood is a national coalition of health care professionals,
educators, advocacy groups and concerned parents who counter the
harmful effects of marketing to children through action,
advocacy, education, research, and collaboration among
organizations and individuals who care about children. CCFC
supports the rights of children to grow up – and the rights of
parents to raise them – without being undermined by rampant
commercialism. For more information, please visit:
http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org.
