I could not believe the topic that came up in class about the Girls Intelligence Agency (GIA). This is a website that reaches out to girls to discover products that will be most successful. They host sleepovers, do shopping trips, even do "in room hangouts" to better get inside these girls heads.
They are most known for their "sleepover in a box", where they send a box full of products to a host of a sleepover. All of the girls then try on or out all of these products. The host is then to report back to the GIA about the products that were the most and least popular. The "report" to the top right shows the expect results from the "word of mouth" after a sleepover. Obviously it is an incredibly intelligent idea, who wouldnt want to have a bunch of free stuff at a sleepover? Or to be taken on shopping trips just for the fun of it?
What these girls dont understand is what is going on behind the frilly pink products and the fun gifts. These companies are holding opportunities they know young girls will buy into, and then using them to make their own companies rich. Children are not meant to be marketed to. At this rate, no child will understand any concept of "saving", or "appreciating what one has" if they are constantly all being held to such high standards with such rediculous marketing.
I think that it is terrible that these companies exploit kids the way that they do. They shouldn't be allowed to get that close to children just to get information for their research. I think it is even worse that the parents allow for the children to do this anyways, so I'm not sure where the blame should be.
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