Branding for kiddos
My 3-year-old daughter asked me the other day for a “Hannah Montana” birthday. This came as a bit of a surprise because a) We don’t have cable. So I know she hasn’t watched the show with me; and b) her birthday is a long, long ways away.
Then at the store Tuesday night we were buying juice pouches (actually, flavored water) and she saw something, “I want the Hannah Montana juice.” Sure enough, there was a package of juice with some type of concert-looking character on the front (to be honest, I think it was another kid band, but not sure).
Kids are bombarded with character placement – promos are even on vegetables (have you seen the Dora branded bags of apples in the produce aisle? Or the Spider-Man toothpaste? Or the canned veggies with Sesame Street characters? Oh, I may be making that last one up.)
We don’t have cable, but I know my kids hear about these characters from their friends or cousins (HUGE Hannah Montana fans). I’m not against it – hey, I’m in the business of selling and understand advertising so branding is familiar to me. I’m just surprised my THREE YEAR OLD has caught on to this!
Did I buy it? Yup. And when you open the branded box, you know what’s inside? Regular looking juice pouches.
The box went into the recycle bin. But at least my daughter is getting plenty of flavored water and staying hydrated this summer.
