College Times

Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: Daily Buzz

Media Credit: Photos.com

I'm not looking to have kids anytime soon. In fact, I could go 20 years until I have a kid and that would still be too soon. I get freaked out enough by other people's kids on my way to work every morning when I drive by a local high school. It's enough to turn a girl like me into a born-again virgin. After seeing what I've seen on the side of the street, I can't imagine having to a kid of my own.

Most of the young girls could easily be confused with prostitutes due to the clothes they wear, or more so lack of. The packs of guys that surround the girls are usually trying to conceal their erections as they take not-so-discreet photos on their phones of the girls whose thongs deliberately peek out above their shorts. And the high school sweethearts that suck face…well, there is nothing sweet about them at all. As far as I'm concerned, they should be cited for public indecency by the police.

It's terrifying to think how quickly kids are growing up these days, but it's no surprise that students in high school, middle school and even elementary school have gotten swept up in our sex-obsessed culture. They're impressionable at such a young age, and that's exactly why the advertising industry is targeting them. What better way to promote and sell products than with sex, something the media does a damn good job glorifying.

Take the popular novel series turned television teen drama, "Gossip Girl," about privileged high school kids living the good life. The CW show premiered in the US on September 19, 2007 and was watched by 3.65 million viewers. Advertisers were hoping to draw in a solid weekly audience consisting of 18 to 49 year olds. Obviously that didn't work out since most college students and professionals could care less about who stole 17-year-old socialite Blair Waldorf's boyfriend, therefore "Gossip Girl" suffered "a steep decline of roughly 30 percent in 18 to 49 year olds and total viewers," according to MediaLifeMagazine.com.

So CW came up with the brilliant idea to market the show to people who might actually watch it, teenagers, and what better way to start off the second season strong than promote the April 21st premiere by using a 10 second sneak peek on their CW website displaying the phrase OMFG and sexually suggestive scenes between characters while saying, "Sex! Ladies! Sex! Ladies! Sex! Double-time! Sex is meaningful...like art. You don't rush art. Did you sleep with him? How was I? I don't know…"

Not only that, but two separate ads have surfaced on the internet promoting the show, one of which, the main character Serena van der Woodsen appears naked, arms wrapped around her best friend's boyfriend and so it seems, enjoying the best orgasm of her 17-year-old life. The second ad features Serena's best friend cheating on her boyfriend with his best friend in the back of a limo. Sex and infidelity. That's exactly what we want our kids to think is cool.

What's worse is while surfing the internet during a routine search for sex/relationship stories to write about for my next article, I came across an article about the Tesco Direct site, Britain's number one chain, that was selling a pole dancing toy specifically marketed towards 4, 5 and 6 year old girls. According to DailyMail.co.uk, "The £49.97 kit comprises a chrome pole extendible to 8ft 6ins, a 'sexy dance garter' and a DVD demonstrating suggestive dance moves." What the hell? The best part is Tesco Direct advertised the product using these exact words, "Unleash the sex kitten inside…simply extend the Peekaboo pole inside the tube, slip on the sexy tunes and away you go! Soon you'll be flaunting it to the world and earn a fortune in Peekaboo Dance Dollars." Tesco maintained that the toy was intended for adult use, and after complaints, removed the kits from the toy section of their website.

If my child ever told me they wanted Santa to stuff their stocking with that for Christmas...ha ha ha ha. There simply will be no unleashing of any kind, certainly not sex kittens, in my house. You can bet your bottom Peekaboo Dance Dollar on that.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools