Monday, January 26, 2009

Have YOUR kids been to the NED show?



My suspicions ran high when we got a flyer home that the NED show was coming to our school and special NED merchandise would be available for 5 days following the show...something told me, this is not good.

Now, I know that Never Give Up, Encourage Others, and Do Your Best are messages that all kids need to hear. I can't think of a single kid that doesn't need to hear that, in reference to how to interact socially. But the message my son came home with wasn't exactly "Never Give up and You can Be the President" or "Encourage Others and you'll be a great leader" or even "Do Your Best and you will excell". The message my son came home with was more along these lines...

Never Give Up-if you beg incessantly, there is every possibility that your mother will break down and buy you a yo-yo that you won't be able to make do any of the tricks we showed you today.

Encourage Others-to buy you the damn YO-YO!!!

Do Your Best-to make sure that your mother knows that the message you left the NED show with is that becoming an owner of a YO-YO is the number one way to excel in life, school, and everything.

(oh, and also, if you eat a tissue the right way, you'll be able to spit out little bits of colored ribbon.)

So, thank you NED show, for using cultural values that our children desperately need to sell product to them. Product that will probably get lost in the bottom of the "junk-toy" bucket. Or, if it is actually used and mastered, create a child who is shunned by his classmates as being weird because all he thinks about is Yo-yo's. You're awesome NED, you're a master of marketing.

15 comments:

Cajoh said...

Ahh… the power of the Yo. I like the acronym, but if it is only used to sell products it makes me wonder.

Goob said...

needless to say, I'm not pleased. Anytime you get a flyer home about an assembly and the point of the flyer is to let you know that merchandise relating to the assembly will be available for purchase, there is nothing good that can come of it.

SalGal said...

Wow, it's like the commercial break during Saturday morning cartoons live and in person!

Heatherlyn said...

Wow. That's really WRONG.

Jillene said...

Oh yes!! NED came to our elementary last year. My son BEGGED to buy a Yo-Yo. We gave in. He broke it the next day. I was pissed at NED and still am!!

Just SO said...

I would have been concerned upon hearing what you first heard about the Ned show as well. Stuff like that bugs me. I will consider myself warned about Ned and his Yo-yo and tissue spitting antics.

Lara Neves said...

Is it a fundraiser for the school? I am sort of okay with that it is, but I still never buy the stuff. I don't need more junk around my house thank you.

Kristina P. said...

I have no idea what this even is!!

AW Cake! said...

Ha! I love it. I remember when we'd have people like that come to our school. We'd get all excited to sell candy bars and then eat them all on the way home from school. Mom wasn't too happy when they came to town.

Goob said...

no, its not specifically billed as a fundraiser. It is a "self esteem" boosting assembly. Apparently they travel the states, and I would imagine they make big bucks doing it. My children are inundated with marketing everywhere they turn and they get such mixed messages. If NED could come and give their message without offering "souvenirs" I would love it, its the souvenir part that bugs the crap out of me.

Loralee and the gang... said...

Yes, I agree here...I never buy anything from the "fund"- raisers - I think I pay enough in property taxes, thank you. And I don't have any extra money for overpriced greeting cards, wrapping paper, household knickknacks, chocolate, and such. And neither do my friends or family members. And no responsible parent lets their kid go door-to-door anymore. And who has the time to go with them! Not me or my husband, that's for sure.
And if this is just a shameless commercial gig brought in to the school, shame, shame, shame on the school district!
:~D

Jen said...

This truly made me laugh because I so-so know what you mean! Sort of like those fundraisers where you aren't supposed to go door-to-door but sponge off of your wallet and your family's wallet.

rachel said...

Now they are even marketing self esteem? What is the world coming to?

Goob said...

Yes Rachel, they are now marketing Self Esteem, and thinking about that, isn't that what Dove "Real Beauty" is doing to us women?

D. Larsen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.