Pimping our Children!!!!

Matt Lauer interviews a marketing expert after he leads a focus group with 9 - 11 year-olds. The group looks at various logos to determine what marketing campaigns the children can identify. At 4:30 in the video, Matt asks the expert about companies using peer pressure to market their goods!!!!!

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This is !!!! I don't even know what this is. I just know it isn't right.

What happens when the children that are paid to promote a brand becomes arrogant? What happens when the arrogance turns into abuse?

What happens when the other children become jealous of the promoter? What happens when the jealousy turns to violence?

The Today Show drives me crazy. I like Ann Curry because she brings a kind of grace to the news and her reporting. She's not soft on her interviews, but she has enough presence to listen. Matt on the other hand just asks his questions to get through the various segments...there are times that he actually does his job, but it is the exception. This interview is a prime example. When the expert talks about the peer pressure instigated by corporations, Matt moves on to supply and demand marketing!!!

That is not a problem!!! That is not covert!!! That is not subversive!!! Infecting our schools with more material envy is wrong!!!