About the Author:
SUSAN GREGORY THOMAS is an investigative journalist and broadcaster. Formerly a senior editor at US News & World Report and co-host of public TV’s Digital Duo, she has written for several publications, including Time, the Washington Post, and Glamour. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:
From Buy, Buy Baby What might be called the baby genius phenomenon—the widely held notion that infants and toddlers can be made smarter via exposure to the right products and TV programs—has spread throughout the toy industry. Today, to be competitive in the baby and toddler business, a toymaker must make toys that encourage “learning,” or at least claim that they do. The fastest-growing segment of the $3.2 billion infant and preschool toy business is represented by “educational” products, those that are advertised to stimulate babies’ and toddlers’ cognitive abilities. Indeed, the demand for such playthings has completely transformed the toy industry. It has helped catapult dot-com era start-ups such as LeapFrog into the major leagues. It has also drastically shifted the business strategies of long-time players such as Mattel’s Fisher-Price and Hasbro’s PlaySkool, as they try to compete in a market driven by so-called educational value as defined by wholesale buyers who employ no educational guidelines in their decisions, but who are governed only by how they believe customers will respond to packaging claims. It is now standard practice for anyone marketing to very young children and their families to make certain that his product—and brand—wears what is called an educational halo. As one kids’ marketing executive affirmed, if your company can establish a halo, “you can pretty much get away with anything.
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