Marketing in Schools Goes to the Dogs!
As the traditional school tour season begins, the Irish Greyhound Board are offering students and teachers tours of Greyhound stadia around the country.
Just when it seemed that Tayto Park couldn’t be beaten as an unhealthy, commercially-driven tour destination, the IGB have produced a flyer enticing teachers to introduce children to the world of dog racing, gambling and blood sports.
Greyhound Action Ireland have condemned the promotion saying “Surely the high incidence of both gambling addictions and animal abuse in Ireland should be a red flag to anyone concerned about children’s welfare.” The group have asked Education Minister Ruairí Quinn to “stop the IGB seducing children with ‘goody bags’ in gambling establishments.”
AIB to seek 2,500 lay offs but keep student workers.
Allied Irish Bank having received €20.8 billion of state money is to seek 2,500 redundancies (Irish Times 8 March 2012).
However, the bank persists in recruiting seconday school students to act as unpaid promoters and marketing agents as part of its ”Build a Bank Challenge 2011-2012.
Remarkable for the overt way it demands students promote AIB to their peers, “Build a Bank” encourages the use of special offers, incentives and public appeals for new bank accounts. The advertisements extend school-wide as teams, selected by AIB themselves, vie to generate most new accounts and create the best marketing scheme. The promotion is administered for AIB by Real Event Solutions, a marketing company specialising in in-school promotions and with experience of bringing corporate messages into schools. Read the story »
The CCFE needs you – Pilot Project 2012.
The Campaign for Commercial-Free Education is seeking to develop a pilot project on media literacy to be offered to Irish schools later in 2012.
A 2007 report on “Critical Media Literacy in Ireland” found the subject to be of low status, frequently overlooked and poorly resourced within Irish schools.
We want to begin to change this and particularly raise awareness of the presence and effect of commercial advertising in the lives of young students. Read the story »
Ads to be banned from children’s TV…but what about schools??
The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has launched (30th March) a public consultation on a new Draft Children’s Commercial Communications Code which it is proposed will govern advertising, sponsorship and product placement aimed at children on radio and television.
The new Draft Children’s Commercial Code proposes that ads for High Fat Salt and Sugar food and drink shall not:
1) be permitted in children’s programmes as defined by the code;
2) include celebrities or sports stars;
3) include programme characters;
4) include licensed characters e.g. characters and personalities from cinema releases;
5) contain health or nutrition claims; or
6) include promotional offers. Read the story »
