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Webkinz and Advertising 2.0

Started by mathewi · 1 year ago

When it comes to virtual-world style social networks for young kids, there are two big players: Webkinz and Club Penguin, the latter of which was bought by Disney for $340-million earlier this year (interestingly enough, both of them are Canadian — Webkinz is an offshoot of a ... Continue reading »

5 comments

  • "The always level-headed Anne Zelenka": thanks for that, though I wasn't feeling so level-headed earlier in the week when I responded to Scott Karp's Twitter critique ;)
  • Actually, Anne, I thought you were pretty level-headed in that one
    too, and made a number of worthwhile points. Let's just say it was
    clear that you had strong feelings on the issue :-)
  • What WebKinz should be grateful they are not dealing with is the fact that their toys are made in China. That stopped me cold from buying one. I no longer trust anything that carries that particular sticker on it.

    I truly don't understand what the hoo-ha is about advertising anyway. If someone tells me that I can get something at a lower price or free as long as they're allowed to have ads associated with it, I'm fine with that. There's no way on earth that kids are going to be innoculated from advertising -- even walking down the street will expose them to something, somewhere. So what? Teach them to be discerning about it, don't shove popups in their face, and make sure the ads are age-appropriate and vetted first.
  • I agree, Karoli -- I don't see what the big deal is really. It seems
    like Webkinz is taking all the precautions it can, which is fine with
    me.
  • Webkinz are being marketed exactly the same as beanie babies yet more aggressively so they don't lose the flare that the beanie babies lost.

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