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In 1989, Whittle Communications began testing Channel One in schools. This 12-minute daily news program for kids -- with commercials -- sparked national controversy over whether advertising should be permitted in schools. On the one hand, schools were offered not only free broadcasts produced for kids, but also free equipment. On the other hand, they had to promise to make the programs and the commercials required viewing. Channel One was defended as a bonanza for money-starved schools, and was opposed as a perversion of the education process, a device to turn schools into dispensers of commercial propaganda.
But Channel One is just the tip of the iceberg. Corporate-sponsored teaching materials are reaching more than 20 million students in elementary and high schools every year. Product samples and coupons are distributed to more than two million students. TV commercials and magazine ads in the classroom reach countless millions more. This report describes some current advertising messages and how they're "packaged" in order to gain entry into schools.
Who Advertises In Our Schools?
This list of 234 companies includes corporate exhibitors at education conferences, corporate clients of teaching-materials companies, and advertisers in classroom magazines.
Agencies Targeting Schools
Industry ads reveal the promotional nature of teaching materials produced for corporate clients. One ad said: "Kids spend 40% of each day in the classroom where traditional advertising can't reach them. Now YOU CAN ENTER THE CLASSROOM through custom-made learning materials with your specific marketing objectives in mind ..." Agencies that specialize in the school market include:
- Lifetime Learning Systems (Fairfield, Connecticut), founded in 1978, claims to have developed over 500 classroom programs. Its brochure invites advertisers to "take your message into the classroom, where the young people you want to reach are forming attitudes that will last a lifetime." Claims Lifetime Learning Systems, "school is the perfect time to communicate to young people directly ... the ideal time to influence attitudes, build long-term loyalties, introduce new products, test market, promote sampling and trial usage and&emdash; above all&emdash;to generate immediate sales."
- Media Management Systems (Yardley, Pennsylvania) offers to help "companies of all sizes reach educators and students directly, through innovative marketing campaigns, specially designed products, creative learning programs and classroom materials. The results? High visibility. Early brand loyalty. New sources of business. Profitable secondary markets. A positive corporate image."
- Whittle Communications (Knoxville, Tennessee) offers both print and television vehicles for advertising, including magazines, wall posters and Channel One, the controversial sponsored news program. Whittle recently announced that Channel One had sold $200 million worth of advertising, and he predicts that it will be seen by more than six million kids daily by 1991.
- Cover Concepts Marketing Services, Inc. (Massachusetts) has signed up high schools in 99 cities to receive four million free book covers "plastered with ads," according to the Wall Street Journal. "The cost to advertisers ranges from $25,000 to $195,000 ... For their money, they get a captive audience."
- Modern's TeenPak (St. Petersburg, Florida) is a product-sampling program that distributes packets of merchandise to two million junior and senior high school students "in a focused classroom setting." TeenPak promises clients that they can select their preferred audience by gender or by school type and offers "high visibility for your product among a closely targeted audience." Merchandise ranges from feminine hygiene products to snack foods.
Ads In The Classroom
The recent controversy over allowing TV commercials in the classroom creates the illusion that schools resist the commercialization of the classroom. But schools do not object to buying classroom magazines that carry advertising, or to giving students free magazines with ads. "When you advertise in Scholastic," claims a trade journal ad, "you're ... inside the classroom, reaching 43% of all teenage students in America." Sponsored TV media programs like Channel One are gaining entry, as are ad-bearing book covers. Specific classroom programs that carry advertising directly to students are listed in the following charts.
|
CLASSROOM MATERIAL |
PRICE
(per year) |
ADVERTISERS
(IN 1 ISSUE) |
|
Careers
(magazine) |
free |
Air Force Reserve, Citibank, Cliff Notes, Fleet/Norstar Financial Group, Smith Corona, Air Force Academy, 16 colleges & universities, Stanley H. Kaplan, Giftmaster, Inc., Bank of America, U.S. Navy. |
|
High School Sports
(magazine) |
free |
Reebok's Pump, Clearasil, Pony sneakers, ESPN, a business school, Strength System Footwear, Basketball Hall of Fame, Columbia House cassette/CD club, Army Reserve, Pepsi. |
|
GO! (Girls Only) (Whittle magazine) |
free |
"Personal Products Co. is the sole advertiser"&emdash; Sure & Natural, Stayfree |
|
Sports Illustrated for Kids |
free to selected schools (Literacy Program) |
Russell Athletic, Sugar Daddy, Time Warner, Huffy, SI for Kids Gear, Crest, Toys 'R' Us, Chicklets, Hyatt Regency, Hershey's, Women's Sports Foundation, M&M's, Pepsi. |
|
Scholastic Choices
(magazine) |
$5.50 per student |
Maybelline, U.S. Army, Russell Athletic, Smith Corona, U.S. Air Force, Cover Girl |
|
Scholastic Science World
(magazine) |
$5.95 per student |
Spaceballs (movie), Smith Corona, Army ROTC, U.S. Air Force, Maybelline, Army National Guard, KAY Jewelers, Cover Girl. |
|
Junior Scholastic
(magazine) |
$5.25 per student |
NBA Hoops basketball cards, American Society of Civil Engineers, Russell Athletic. |
|
Whittle's Channel One
(TV news for kids) |
free
Gives a satellite dish,
2 VCRs & TV sets. |
Two minutes of each 12-minute show are paid commercials, which students are required to watch. (Levi's, Head & Shoulders were in test, but didn't renew.) |
|
KIDSNEWS
(news videos tapes) |
free |
A new venture. News videos don't have ads, but wall posters do. |
Corporate-Sponsored Teaching Materials
More than 20 million students a year use corporate-sponsored teaching materials in school. Are they being taught, or are they being sold? We reviewed a random selection of 18 programs. If the materials mentioned the sponsor's brand-name products, gave incomplete or inaccurate information, or encouraged purchasing via coupons, brand-specific recipes, or free samples, they were judged to be promotional.
|
CORPORATE SPONSOR |
TEACHING MATERIAL |
PROMOTIONAL CONTENT |
|
Polaroid |
Polaroid Education Program
(lesson book, camera -- "A visual approach to teaching basic skills.") |
High. Mentions "Polaroid" in every lesson and assignment, and requires 10 proofs of film purchase for the camera. |
|
Kodak |
Corkers (bulletin board ideas) & Teaching Tips from Kodak (tips from teachers on using photography to teach) |
Low. Encourages taking photos but never mentions "Kodak." |
|
Chef Boyardee |
Teach ... Good Nutrition
(Sets of reproducible masters) |
High. Has its name and logo on every master; names its products in all recipes; and just encourages kids to eat pizza (no nutrition education). |
|
McDonalds |
Nutrient Pursuit (poster and activity to teach the four basic food groups) |
Low. Its name isn't on the materials, but its logo is on the masters. Nutrition education is weak. |
|
|
Wecololgy (kids' magazine in class sets) |
High. Gives self-serving misinformation about how recyclable foam packaging is. |
|
NutraSweet |
Total Health (reproducible masters for six activities) |
High. Pushes using NutraSweet by name to control weight, and omits any warnings about its safety. Also, its name and logo are on every master. |
|
Tampax |
Mysteries of Me (lesson plans and masters for three activities) |
High. Pushes using Tampax by name, gives girls a coupon to order a $3 starter kit or a free sample, and has its name on the poster. |
|
Procter & Gamble |
Perspectives (case studies of P&G's past to teach economics and history) |
Moderate. Builds P&G's image and talks about its products, but doesn't "sell." |
|
|
Food Preparation (booklet and worksheets) |
Moderate. Uses P&G brand-name products in recipes, and includes coupons for free P&G products "for demonstrations/discussions." |
|
|
Personal Care (worksheets and teaching guide) |
Moderate. Mentions P&G brands in the teaching guide and provides coupons for free P&G products. |
|
|
Changing: A Booklet for Girls (class sets. A different booklet for boys) |
High. Teaches how to use Always pads by name; advertises Always on back cover; comes with free sample of Always. |
|
Colgate Palmolive |
Superstar Magic Club dental health program (poster, teaching guide, and packets for kids, grades 1 & 2, to bring home) |
High. Colgate name is on the poster, guide, and packet&emdash; even on the toy ring inside. |
|
Gerber Products Company |
Take a Close Look at Baby Foods
(8-page teaching material) |
High. Teaches the Gerber feeding plan by name; promotes Gerber products; shows Gerber products on cover and several pages; omits teaching alternatives to using prepared baby foods. |
|
Reynolds Wrap |
"Preserve Freshness and Flavor with The Best Wrap Around" poster with teaching guide on back |
High. Shows more than 30 foods wrapped in aluminum foil; says "Freeze in it! Cook in it! Store in it!" All information pushes using foil. |
|
Almond Board of California |
"Everybody's Nuts About Almonds" poster with teaching guide on back |
High. Shows only almonds and package; "Nutrition" teaching guide shows why almonds are nutritionally superior to other nuts, including peanuts, and why they're so healthy&emdash; one-sided and misleading. |
|
General Foods Birds Eye |
"The Vegetable Connection" poster with nutrition claims and nutrition info for frozen vegetables |
High. Shows brand name on poster; implies health claims for vegetables are for frozen vegetables&emdash; doesn't reveal how frozen compare with fresh. |
|
Promise Spread |
"Promise Yourself a Healthy Heart" poster with teaching guide on back |
High. Charts foods' cholesterol content showing four Promise products to be best; Says to substitute Promise Spread for butter; shows large Promise package. Promise products are named in word search and in recipes. |
|
General Foods |
Bakers Chocolate "The Chocolateville Gazzette" poster with guide on back |
High. Shows six Bakers products and tons of chocolate; Bakers products are named in word search and in recipes. |
Guidelines for business-sponsored materials were prepared in 1982 by the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals, and later updated by several consumer organizations. The guidelines set voluntary standards for business to follow in producing education materials. They specifically advise against including sponsors' brand names and corporate identification in text and illustrations. Seventeen of the 18 programs reviewed above violated that guideline.
Schools and school districts have thorough review processes for selecting textbook programs, but those don't apply to the kinds of materials provided by the corporate sector. Schools and school districts control how money is spent on educational materials. But educational review processes usually don't apply when the instructional material is free or inexpensive. Voluntary guidelines and standards for business-sponsored materials exist, but we found no evidence of their effectiveness. At present, most schools have no "safety net" to screen out materials that sell rather than teach.
Marketing Objectives
Another way of judging whether corporate-sponsored materials are promotional is to look at their stated objectives. The following objectives were cited by Lifetime Learning Systems, which produced the teaching materials listed.
|
CORPORATE CLIENT |
OBJECTIVE |
TEACHING KIT |
|
General Mills |
To "introduce Fruit Roll-Ups to preschool children and their parents." |
Grow Up! (charts, booklets, samples to teach "fruit and nutrition") |
|
Bic |
To "create national awareness of Bic's leadership as a manufacturer of quality writing instruments and strengthen Bic's positive corporate image in the educational cumunity." |
Quality Comes in Writing (to teach student writing skills) |
|
Lederle Laboratories |
To "introduce Centrum Jr. multivitavims to pre-teens and their parents." |
Vitamins for Life (to teach the importance of vitamins and minerals to grades 4 to 6) |
|
Northeast Utilities |
To "re-educate consumers to the realities of the energy crisis and increase public support for nuclear power development." |
Energy: It's Your Choice (mulitimedia series for elementary, junior high and high school students) |
In the process of investigating corporate presence in schools, we found several companies that created incentive programs to put their products directly into the schools, or in other ways got schools to encourage purchase of their product. Those companies include:
|
COMPANY |
INCENTIVE |
PRODUCE PLACEMENT |
|
Pepsi |
Will donate free Pepsi for "alcohol-free" prom night. |
School agrees to install a Pepsi vending machine. |
|
Coke & Pepsi |
Will donate electronic scoreboard or percentage of vending machine sales. |
School agrees to install a Pepsi or Coke vending machine. |
|
P&G Jif |
Will give school 10 cents for every pound of Jif. |
School encourages students to bring in Jif lables. |
|
Campbells |
Will give school a range of new school equipment. |
School encourages students to bring in Campbells labels. |
Four thousand teachers of junior and senior high girls are distributing 530,000 product samples and coupons for Tampax and Noxema to their students for no apparent incentive, through a new marketing program called TeenPak, offered by Modern Direct. This company has developed a database of teachers willing to distribute the samples, and plans to expand the TeenPaks to contain five samples/coupons, to address boys as well as girls, and to reach 2.3 million kids altogether.
Discussion
Schools' chronic shortage of funding for learning materials has led teachers to welcome free education materials. Teachers are continually looking for new and interesting materials to motivate students, but they have little money. On a larger scale, schools are bartering students' ability to make rational marketplace choices in exchange for equipment they couldn't otherwise afford.
The result: Schools are becoming heavily sponsored by corporations marketing products. They're "selling" the kids entrusted to them to any bidder. Sponsored materials' advertising is disguised as educational materials, which kids are less likely to question.
Consumer education entails empowering students to make choices that are best for them -- choices that may involve learning about alternatives like buying less or not buying. The student's interest is served by encouraging inquisitiveness, healthy skepticism, brand disloyalty, and the ability to say "No, I don't need or want that product." Corporate-sponsored materials are unlikely to teach such lessons.
Of all the advertising that goes on in schools, ads in classroom magazines schools buy are the most straightforward. But problems persist: The school is a silent partner in advertising to kids, contributing to the commercial pressures on kids and implying endorsement of the products advertised.
The bottom line for kids is simple: They are being subjected to marketing messages in school -- some hidden, some obvious, but all quite powerful. The place where they might be learning how to deal with commercial pressures is thrusting more commercial pressure on them.
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