Above: This picture is taken from Channel One’s web rebroadcast of their in-school TV show. This is what the children see. This is a new commercial for LeapFrog’s Fly Pen. Do you see the fine print at the bottom? Can you read it? It’s difficult but you can read it because it is frozen. Now picture the commercial running on a 19" TV set hanging on a bracket near the ceiling of a middle school classroom. The fine print is shown and then gone as the commercial quickly cuts from one scene to another.
Above: A voice-over tells students that the pen only works with "Fly Paper." Saying this once, very quickly, is acceptable to the Children’s Advertising Unit (CARU) who has signed off on this commercial being "OK" for preteens. Respectfully, Obligation thinks that is a wrong decision by CARU. Children will be deceived by this commercial. Why not put large print on the screen for a while that says: "To make this work you must buy expensive paper from this company. You cannot use regular paper. " Whether CARU thinks this ad is "OK" is beside the point. Channel One’s CEO Judy Harris should have higher standards for her young captive audience. Don’t these kids deserve more than the bare minimum from Channel One’s executives? These executives are making big salaries that come directly from children being compelled to watch the commercials that Channel One selects for them. Is it too much to ask that the commercials the young people are watching be straightforward and extremely easy to understand? Give these kids a break, Judy.
Obligation’s previous articles on Fly Pen:
April 3, 2006 – Dear Channel One, Stop Your Deceptive Advertising
