Start 'em while they're young: Barbie, Beetles, and Branding
Originally published at www.aiada.org
December 17, 2004
All I Want For Christmas Is to Be Just Like Mom & Dad
There are nine Volkswagen New Beetles under my Christmas tree—not to mention the brand new full-size
version Santa left in the driveway for my husband last week. When the holiday hordes descend upon us,
complete with screaming children, cookies in crinkle wrap, and too many choruses of Jingle Bell Rock, we’ll
be ready. Thanks to a fantastic sale at an online retailer, coupled with shrieks of “Punchbuggy!” when we drive
up in our own New Beetles, we’re going for the sure thing this season.
So are millions of other parents. While electronic games may top the older set’s wish list, plenty of other
children are clamoring for at least one set of wheels. Not the simple red pedal-cars of our childhood, but
specific makes, models, and colors—just like mom and dad. Only smaller.
Turn on any television channel and you’re bound to see grinning toddlers behind the wheel of a colorful and
functional SUV, such as the hot pink and purple Power Wheels Barbie Take Along Tunes Jeep, which sells for
$179.95 at ToysRUs.com.
According to the manufacturer, Fisher Price, the 65 pound vehicle offers top speeds of 2.5 MPH, portable
boom box, rollbar and windshield. For the family’s aspiring firefighter, a shiny red Power Wheels Fire Rescue
Jeep is available for $299.99—complete with working fire hose and canister.
But the branding doesn’t start there. If you want to start your little one on Jeep even before he or she reaches
the terrible twos, there’s a Jeep Liberty Renegade walker for just $39.99. Or you can push your infant twins in
the Jeep Wagoneer Infant Duo Stroller.
What’s next? Jeep baby clothes? Jeep maternity wear?
Volkswagen’s captured the infant market, with onesies and tees for the tiniest consumers, along with a whole
host of toys, models, and branded items in its catalog. And just like Jeep, they’ve licensed the Beetle name to
Fisher Price so that 2-to-4 year olds can cruise the playground in the bug of their dreams.
Want something more rugged? Little Tikes offers a Hummer H2 Ride-on in utilitarian gray, and Fisher Price
reaches out to aspiring hogs with the Harley Davidson Deuce Cruiser. “I asked Santa for the Harley,” says
seven year old Christopher, “exactly like the one on TV. It’s cool. And I want a monster truck. Those are cool,
too.”
Even the toys themselves now have specific automotive needs. Barbie, the eternally 20-something Mattel
beauty, isn’t content with just any old jalopy. No, she’s forced to choose between her Jeep Wrangler, VW
Beetle, Corvette, or sunny yellow Cali Girl Chevy SSR.
The options, along with a host of bigger-brighter-faster upgrades each year, practically ensure repeat
customers. It’s all part of a concerted effort by the automotive and toy industries to establish brand identity
early—and to keep even the youngest consumers coming back for more.
Not surprisingly, the practice is the source of heated argument. According to the National Institute on Media
and the Family, children now influence more than $500 billion in purchasing decisions each year. With a
market that large, advertisers take every opportunity to cross-brand. It’s not just Barbie with her fleet of
vehicles, either. Children’s magazines carry ads for family vehicles, fast-food kid’s meal boxes offer a
branded toy inside a branded box, and logos on children’s clothing are routine.
In Europe, reaction has been more negative than in the US. A number of countries greatly restrict or ban
advertising to children under the age of 12. In the UK, which prides itself on advertising self-regulation, a
code of practice states ads targeting children must not lead them to believe they will be inferior if they do not
have the advertised product, harm children, or force them to pester their parents.
US regulations are less strict, although that could change if psychologists (and parents) had their way. In The
Media Monopoly, Ben H. Bagdikian cites American Medical Association statistics showing that children
between 2 and 17 watch an average of 15,000 to 18,000 hours of television each year. Bagdikian goes on to
quote The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Communications: “One billion dollars a year is
spent on ads and commercials directed at children.”
Given that today’s tweens and teens are the first generation to grow up on interactive (as opposed to passive,
parent-focused) advertising, the effects of that $1 billion investment are likely to emerge as teenagers turn into
new drivers. No longer content with nameless clothing, beverages, or entertainment, it’s likely they’ll continue
to rely on established brands—just like Santa Claus, decked out in his red Dockers suit, driving a convertible
Saab sleigh, pulled by not Dasher, Prancer, Comet and the like, but instead Durango, Prius, Civic and all their
newly-branded reindeer friends.
