CSR Hero: Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood

For this week's CSR Hero, I interviewed Josh Golin, associate director of the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood (CCFC hereon). Josh makes a strong, statistically scary case that CSR metrics should consider a company's marketing to children as a variable in CSR calculus. While advertising in general, and advertising to children specifically, too often falls outside the scope of common CSR concerns, marketing is a crucial element of corporate social responsibility.

Golin, a former manager at movie conglomerate Miramax, ditched the movie industry over ethical objections, when his company was marketing the film "Spykids" aggressively to children. Dismayed by Miramax's scheming to reach children in as many ways as possible, he became the childrens' defender in the war against commercialism.

Me: "So, why shouldn't corporations market to kids?"

Josh: "Corporations shouldn't be marketing to kids because it's not fair. Marketing to kids exploits brain developmental vulnerabilities, over which kids have no control. Kids are unable to distinguish between advertising as a different type of information like adults can. Even for kids that are older, ads are designed to exploit their' insecurities- they want to fit in, etc. As adults, we should help kids navigate these life-challenges, not use them against children." He went on "An added benefit of forcing companies to market only to adults is that it's harder; products are better when parents are the consumers, because they give products more thought; their brains are more developed." [I'd also add- because they are the ones that earned the money for the potential purchase; they better understand value.]

Me: "What company is the worst offender?"

Josh: "Hard to say. Companies are bad in different ways. Nickelodeon is completely unresponsive, and is always pushing the envelope." He went on to describe a Sir Mixalot/ Spongebob promotion that blended sexuality ("Baby got back") with toys. "Nickelodeon is a Viacom feeder brand for MTV; they play up rebellion, anti-parent, anti-teacher themes.Nickelodeon says 'We don't care- we're making money.'Other companies are bad by pretending to be responsible like advertising food as healthier or likely to benefit kids, like Baby Genius, when it's really just branding. So, it's recklessness versus lip service."Justmeans readers can probably relate to that dualism

Me: "What's the single most important thing parents can do to protect their kids from being exploited?"

Josh: "Limit screentime. It doesn't get all of it, but it helps a lot. For example, no screens [such as TV or computers] in bedrooms; it's an effective first step to limit screentime and control what kids are watching."

Me: "Final thoughts?"

Josh: "Marketing to kids is an area that is ripe for CSR activism. It's an area that not too many people have looked at, besides tobacco. It's important, but underemphasized. I'd urge people to start thinking about evaluating corporations' marketing to children as another piece of evaluating a corporation's social responsibility."

For more information, visit the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood website, in the comments below. He also recommends the documentary "Consuming Kids", which CCFC contributed to.