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Ariella
3/8/2017 11:18:06 AM
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Re: About That Social Media Burnout
@vnewman It really is a form of content marketing, and you could get away with for adults. It's only when the target market is a kid that you run some risk of opposition. It's not technically against the law here (though it might be in the EU and UK), as the US ad market is pretty much self-regulating, but they only get to be that way if they show themselves to adhere to standards that are generally agreed upon.
mhhf1ve
3/8/2017 11:14:09 AM
User Rank Platinum
Re: About That Social Media Burnout
I suppose that the margins on kids cereal are probably high enough that Big Cereal doesn't really need to do all that much marketing -- as long as kids see the boxes in the supermarket. So it's all just paying the grocery stores to put the kids cereal at the ends of the aisle and at kid-height.....
mhhf1ve
3/8/2017 11:11:55 AM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Winds of Change
> "What makes you think that people have become addicted to digital devices and social media?"
I have to wonder, though, what defines an addiction vs just something humans require? For example, we all need sleep, but very few people are "addicted to sleep" (I'm sure there probably are a few outliers of people who may be..). People need social interactions, but what makes it "an addiciton" if the few outlets for social interaction is technology?
I guess I'm saying, for example, astronauts communicate with their families on the ground -- because if they didn't they'd go crazy, but astronauts aren't "addicted" to their equipment. They literally need it to stay healthy and survive. Likewise, if some social teens were banned from social media -- would they not have a higher likelihood of becoming a unabomber or go a little nuts?
Ariella
3/8/2017 11:09:31 AM
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Re: About That Social Media Burnout
@mhhf1ve probably not, as that would be a bit too obvious. They still market sugary cereals to kids, though they have to do it in somewhat more subtle ways than by engaging them in games. They tend to rely on the packaging to some extent, as many young kids accompany their parents at the supermarket and clamor for the things with cartoon characters on them.
mhhf1ve
3/8/2017 11:06:10 AM
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Re: About That Social Media Burnout
@Ariella - Wow. I guess "Big Cereal" really did have some marketing machine for kids. I wonder what it's been replaced with now... pre-roll ads on streaming youtube videos? I don't think that many kids watch saturday morning cartoons, if that time slot even exists still.
vnewman
3/7/2017 6:38:04 PM
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Re: About That Social Media Burnout
It seems especially nefarious of a company to have ads masquerading around as games when you frame it that way though, right?
Ariella
3/7/2017 8:56:34 AM
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Re: Winds of Change
@Michelle, I see the NYT just ran an interview with Adam Alter, the author of a book on the subject of screen addiction. from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/science/technology-addiction-irresistible-by-adam-alter.html:
Q. What makes you think that people have become addicted to digital devices and social media?
A. In the past, we thought of addiction as mostly related to chemical substances: heroin, cocaine, nicotine. Today, we have this phenomenon of behavioral addictions where, one tech industry leader told me, people are spending nearly three hours a day tethered to their cellphones. Where teenage boys sometimes spend weeks alone in their rooms playing video games. Where Snapchat will boast that its youthful users open their app more than 18 times a day.
Behavioral addictions are really widespread now. A 2011 study suggested that 41 percent of us have at least one. That number is sure to have risen with the adoption of newer more addictive social networking platforms, tablets and smartphones.
Ariella
3/6/2017 9:00:25 PM
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Re: About That Social Media Burnout
@mhhf1ve Here's the Wiki on it http://millsberry.wikia.com/wiki/Millsberry:
Millsberry was an advergame, created by General Mills in July 2004 as a marketing tool. It had shops, homes, an arcade, special events, and a weekly newspaper called the Millsberry Gazette, which told you the happenings in Millsberry. General Mills often used product placement on Millsberry. It was a web site mainly targeted towards elementary and middle school students, though it could be played by everyone. You were required to sign up to be able to fully and freely access Millsberry.
It closed in 2010. Here's a blog post about it from a former player http://newlyrestarted.blogspot.com/2012/10/millsberry.html:
Yes, they shut down Millsberry because General Mills' characters are making kids biased on wanting cereal, and making them ask their parents to buy it for them. Millsberry was basically nothing BUT Toucan Sam, Lucky Leprachan (I think I misspelled that), CooCoo the Cocoa Puffs Bird, Chef Cinnamon, etc. It sounds as if they're getting pulled. Hasn't that been the gimmick all along? Colorful character= kids want the cereal= parents buy the cereal for the kids. General Mills is blaming the characters, not the parents who don't decide for themselves whether or not to buy their kids the sugary cereal.
Though General Mills never came out and said that's why they were shutting down the site (no official reason was really given), it seems that there was pressure of that sort at the time. See http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kellogg-wont-market-sugary-cereal-to-kids/:
In the face of a lawsuit, cereal-maker Kellogg is clamping down on marketing sugary cereals and snacks to kids, reports CBS News consumer safety correspondent Nancy Cordes. It's a move food safety advocates hope will spread to the rest of the brands in the cereal aisle.
Kellogg Co. said Thursday it will increase the nutritional value of the cereals and snacks targeted at children or stop marketing those products to them altogether
The company said it won't promote foods in TV, radio, print or Web site ads that reach audiences at least half of whom are under age 12 unless a single serving of the product meets these standards:
- No more than 200 calories.
- No trans fat and no more than 2 grams of saturated fat.
- No more than 230 milligrams of sodium, except for Eggo frozen waffles.
- No more than 12 grams of sugar, not counting sugar from fruit, dairy and vegetables.
Kellogg said it would reformulate products to meet these criteria or stop marketing them to children under 12 by the end of 2008.
mhhf1ve
3/6/2017 7:49:27 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: About That Social Media Burnout
> "...years ago my kids enjoyed playing Millsberry."
I'd never heard of that game.. but I doubt it was killed off by ad regulations? There are So. Many. Ads. targeted at kids for sugary cereals -- how would an online game even move the needle even slightly?
Ariella
3/6/2017 10:05:33 AM
User Rank Author
Re: Winds of Change
@Michelle, I really don't see it going that way. You may have some people going to specialized settings in which devices are not allowed, say for a day or a weekend, but generally, on their own, most people are utterly connected. (I say this BTW as someone who can happily leave her phone at home for hours or even a whole day).
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