From Jim Metrock:
Mathew Blades is trying hard to be your seven-year-old’s best friend. He has to become at least a good friend because he has much to sell you child and every elementary schoolchild on the school bus.
Mr. Blades of course is the main disc jockey at BusRadio.
Here’s what he is selling now:
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AUDIO FILE: BusRadio’s DJ pitching Tamagotchi products on elementary school show.
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From the toy company’s press release:
Bandai America Inc. Introduces Tamagotchi Music Star: A Pop Star Produced By You!
With Tamagotchi Music Star, Girls Can Train Their Music Star Characters to Become Great Musicians, Perform in Front of Judges and Play Live Concerts
Aspiring musicians can achieve “rock star” status with the new Tamagotchi Music Star – the world’s first interactive virtual pet toy that lets kids produce a musical Pop Star! Available at major retailers, Tamagotchi Music Star lets kids train their Music Star characters to become great musicians, form a band and perform in live concerts, while competing to become the Ultimate Music Star!
To experience the pop star lifestyle online, kids can visit and explore the all-new interactive Music City section of TAMATOWN.COM. Using Gotchi Points and special passwords, kids who visit Music City can personalize their own “virtual” room for their Tamagotchi, shop for instruments, buy cool clothes for their big audition, create and produce their own music tunes and even upload their own custom-made tunes to become the #1 Pop Star! With all-new games, features and activities, the fun of Music City never ends!
This device will set back a seven-year-old about $15. The company hopes children buy more than one. There are all sorts of versions of the Tamagotchi device. Some schools in Hawaii banned these toys because children were constantly playing with them.
A child has to attend to the Tamagotchi or bad things happen. If a child has the pet version you must feed it (by pressing a button), clean up its excrement (press the "toilet" button), take it for walks, etc. If the child doesn’t do these things, the Tamagotchi pet may die before the owner comes home from school. That is why children were taking them to school.
I don’t know how the "Music Star" version works but the bottom line is few parents want this type of marketing on their child’s school bus.
This summer will be a great time to contact your school and demand that BusRadio’s advertising blitz be removed from ALL community school buses.
Above: BusRadio’s website is a wasteland of ads and contests aimed at getting either money or information from children.
