User:Usha1960/sandbox

Synopsis
Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood is a documentary film written and directed by Adriana Barbaro and Jeremy Earp. Marketing to children is a multimillion dollar industry which is based on "...psychology, anthropology and neuroscience." In the film child experts speak about how marketing changes children into consumers and further explains that children are being manipulated to become consumers at a very young age. The film shows that marketers target children because they have a lot power in what their parents purchase and states that "kids spend on everything from clothes to music to electronics, totaling some 40 billion dollars every year." The film also shows how children are followed by researchers, who watch their every move to determine different ways to manipulate them and explains how the researcher's information are put together in a report which help the advertisers find ways to sell their product. Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood also examines how adult spending is influenced by the children and explains that adults spend an estimated $700 billion dollars a year because of the influence children have on their parents purchases.

Featuring

 * Dan Acuff
 * Enola Aird
 * Michael Brody
 * Nancy Carlsson-Paige
 * Josh Golin
 * Allen Kanner
 * Velma LaPoint
 * Diane Levin
 * Susan Linn
 * Robert Reiher
 * Michael Rich
 * Gary Ruskin
 * Nick Russell
 * Juliet Schor
 * Betsy Taylor
 * David Walsh

Sections
The sections of the documentary are: The floodgates open, By any means necessary, Under the microscope, Brand new world, Cradle to grave, Rewiring childhood and Our future.

Release
This documentary was released in the United States on October 29, 2008.

Reception
Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood received a positive reaction from critics, it had an audience score of 91% and average rating of 4.2/5 from rotten tomatoes. Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia said, "this powerful, disturbing and heartbreaking film has the power to change the way we Americans treat our children. It is the best possible parent education product." Lynn Phillips, author of Flirting with Danger: Young Women's Reflections on Sexuality and Domination described the film as "an invaluable resource for parents, teachers, health care professionals, and anyone wanting to foster their child's well-being." Susan Rogers, editor & publisher of MediaLiteracy.com added, "this film helps parents, caregivers and educators to start thinking differently about popular culture and children." Chyng Sun, Ph.D. creator of Mickey Mouse Monopoly stated, "this film is an outstanding film with an urgent message, consuming kids is remarkably researched and elegantly executed. It leaves no room for doubt that relentless marketing to children is hurting their mental and physical health. Turning a child's sandbox, filled with so much imaginative potential, into a shopping mall is a crime. It is not what children consume, but what they are directed to think and feel about themselves and their world that is really at stake."