Review by Booklist Review
With mouth-watering delights pizza, a doughnut, a hamburger, and sugary cereal on the cover, this book knows all the tricks of marketing fast food to kids, and it's ready to share them. But first, what is marketing? The author briefly explains this advertising concept and the importance of being media-literate. In double-page spreads that follow, a page of conversational text describes such marketing concepts as product placement, fast food advergames, friendvertising on social media, fast food mascots, and staged photos, while the facing page offers several related examples from around the world. For example, in just one year, fast food restaurants placed six billion ads on Facebook. Interspersed are spotlights on initiatives to crack down on kidvertising, like a British collaboration of parents and nonprofits that aims to make grocery store checkout lanes junk food-free. Cartoonlike artwork of diverse children and color photos with more marketing examples make this slim guide eye-catching and informative. A concluding section offers practical tips to make readers more media savvy and their meals even healthier and happier.--Leeper, Angela Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-7-Marketing targeted at children aims to sell them junk food, but they can fight back. Curtis, the author of What's for Lunch?, surveys the ways marketers attempt to sell their products to young people around the world in an information-packed title. Her relatively complex text is topically organized into spreads, each describing a different marketing strategy through an explanatory paragraph, followed on the facing page by examples and statistics. Strategies she describes include product placement in films, viral marketing, school fund-raising campaigns, brand name characters, and straightforward "kidvertising." Interspersed are chapters describing ways people have fought back. All are profusely illustrated with images of food and cartoons of young people, mostly eating in groups. Two final chapters, one aimed at students, parents, and teachers and another suggesting appropriate actions, will leave readers hopeful. VERDICT With appealing design and timely, research-based information, this will be a welcome addition to most library collections.-Kathleen Isaacs, Children's Literature Specialist, Pasadena, MD © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A comprehensive compilation of fast-food marketing practices aimed at youth and ways kids can recognize and combat them.In this slim, 15-chapter book, Curtis begins with the basics, clearly explaining what marketing is: "the art and science of persuasion." The author's upbeat, nonpatronizing tone is a selling point in itself as she explains how fast-food marketers place product brands in entertainment culture--movies, TV shows, and video games--to persuade kids to identify with or become loyal to a type of junk food; how they infiltrate schools by creating fundraisers and teaching resources that feature their product; and how they create kid-friendly spokescharacters such as Ronald McDonald, among many other manipulative practices. The good news is that the book's target audience--kids--will feel empowered as they learn how they are being influenced and are educated in ways to fight back. Segments labeled "Do This!" suggest ways readers can participate in anti-fast-food advocacy and tell stories of real-life kids and parents who exposed junk-food marketing practices. Facts about the unhealthy results of eating fast food based on statistics from countries around the world are included as well as information on what real food is. Collins' snappy designs depict youth of many ethnicities and share space with clear, well-chosen stock photographs.Copious kid-friendly information on a vitally important topic, stylishly presented, makes this book essential. Knowledge is power. (sources, glossary, author interview) (Nonfiction. 9-14)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
