Yes, I know I missed yesterday. PBS was one packed day.
Paula Kerger
She’s the president of PBS. While she had a lot to say about upcoming programming and pledge drives, she also made it clear that PBS was going to be a safe haven for kids, especially in terms of advertising.
“It’s also worth noting how many kids now
access content online where the line between content
and commerce has blurred beyond recognition,” Kerger said, then added, “At PBS, we remain firm in our conviction that media
should be used to serve kids and not to sell to them.”
An interesting point, especially since Sesame Street toys are a major industry. That being said, it also throws an interesting light on Discovery Networks’ announcement this morning that they’re hooking up with Hasbro and turning Discovery Kids into The Hub, which will feature some of Discovery Kids’ programs such as Adventure Camp and Flight 29 Down, plus Hasbro properties Transformers and My Little Pony. Or as my friend and colleague Canada Wide editor Brent Furdyk put it, cheesy, low-quality cartoons designed to sell toys.
Which I think is the essential difference between Sesame Workshop selling Elmo dolls and books and Transformers and its ilk. After all, kids are going to want to play with (and like) the characters they see on TV. And given that the folks who produce Sesame Street are chronically forced to raise money to do what they do, you can hardly blame them for wanting to tap into the lucrative licensing biz to fund what subscribers and corporate donors can’t or won’t.
But the Transformers cartoon will never make money for its producers apart from the toy sales. My Little Pony exists on TV solely because there are My Little Pony dolls on toy store shelves. Sesame Street would still be Sesame Street whether or not you could buy Elmo or Big Bird or any other toy. And, as Kerger pointed out when she was challenged on this issue, most Sesame Street toys are reasonably educational. What’s a kid going to learn from a toy pony or car that changes into a robot? Stuff I’m not too excited about teaching my kid. Or wasn’t too excited about teaching her when she was that age.
This is not a knock on Transformers and My Little Pony, per se. Transformers are kind of a cool toy, except for some of the more violent applications. My Little Pony is pointless, but if it leads to an imaginative flight of fancy, I can live with it. But aren’t kids inundated by media as it is? Do toy makers really have to resort to pretending to be an educational network truly invested in the well-being of children to sell their wares?
Possibly they do, and you can’t entirely fault them for that. But it does mean that we, as parents, really have to be clear on our values and make sure our kids get it when it comes to that all-too blurred line between content and advertising. And we can watch PBS.
Anne Louise Bannon
Your Family Viewer