Is it too much to ask that our school children eat a school lunch without being marketed to? I don’t think so. A few months ago, I wrote about Milk Media and their Milk Rocks! campaign. At that time I was upset about the Bakugan website advertised to my 5 year-old son on his school milk carton. Since then, both Milk Media and my local dairy have assured me that this won’t happen again. There won’t be a media character or a website advertised on their milk panels. Or, more accurately, there won’t be any website except for “Milk Rocks!”. Their website continues to be advertised to school children across the country every day.
Check out these images of some of their featured performers:
Every time I check out the Milk Rocks! website, I get more and more upset. The website features sexy singers (see above) and video games (some of them, such as 3 Foot Ninja II, are violent). They have trailers for all kinds of movies, including violent PG-13 movies such as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Their contests and content are aimed at older children (13 -18) though their website appears on milk cartons for students of all ages - including kindergartners and elementary students. Now, when I look at the website, I see that kids are encouraged to “become a fan of Milk Rocks! on Facebook”. I am not naive. I know that there are 11 and 12 year-olds on Facebook, but should school milk cartons be encouraging that?
Why is this happening? How is Milk Media allowed to do this? Their website states proudly: “Milk Rocks! connects with students using milk carton side panels to lunchroom posters and book covers. Our Dairy partners make it all possible – their delivery personnel are in and out of every school every day — delivering cartons, checking posters, distributing book covers. We don’t just ship materials and hope for the best, we’re there every day.” Well, I have been trying to get in touch with my local dairy to ask more questions about this, but don’t have any answers yet. I truly do not believe that Milk Media should have such easy access to our children – especially when most parents do not even realize what is going on.
Milk Media and their Milk Rocks! campaign claim their aim is to increase low fat milk consumption (as opposed to sugary drinks), though healthy messages are only a tiny portion of all that the website has to offer. There is a bit of information about the health benefits of drinking low fat milk. There is also advertising from smallsteps.gov which encourages water drinking and exercise, however that ad popped up less often than the Facebook and Twitter ads when I browsed the website. Their motto, “Plug in. Drink up.” just doesn’t sit right with me either. Apparently, the motto refers to the electronic music and milk, but to me it sounds as if they are encouraging kids to play video games while drinking. Maybe that’s just me.
In my eyes, Milk Media continues to pull a fast one on parents (and schools) across the country. Enough already! If you think so, too, write to them at info@milkmedia.com or info@milkrocks.com. Find out if schools in your area are involved, and if so, contact your local dairy and let them know how you feel.
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