KidScreen Magazine

KidScreen Magazine: "KidScreen is a monthly business magazine serving the information needs and interests of all those involved in reaching children through entertainment. What makes KidScreen unique is its cross-media and cross-disciplinary approach combined with its exclusive focus upon the kids%u2019 market. In a single publication, this gives readers top-line information about all aspects of the increasingly inter-related aspects of their industry."

Disease Mongering

Scary Evidence - Center for Media and Democracy: "British Columbia's Deputy Minister of Health, Gordon Macatee, ordered a lunchtime presentation on disease mongering cancelled until a drug industry speaker could be added. University of Victoria health researcher Alan Cassels was surprised that the ministry was so sensitive about a discussion on the book he co-authored, Selling Sickness: How the World's Biggest Pharmaceutical Companies Are Turning Us All Into Patients."

(Via PR Watch.)

Architecural Tricks To Control Users

Architecural Tricks To Control Users: "Ever wandered into a shop looking to buy a few things on your list, only to find yourself coming out with twice as much? You may not be aware, but the reason for this is not sheer chance, or that you were just feeling frivolous. The retail industry spends hard time and money into creating all sorts of devious little means to make you shop that bit extra. Every penny you spend in their shop is not being spent at their rivals, and in the high stakes of today%u2019s competitive market, every penny counts.... an A-Z of retail tricks that we have compiled to empower you before you go out shopping, so that you can buy what you need and collapse our economy!"

(Via Consumerist.)

Architectures of Control

Increasingly, many products are being designed with features that intentionally restrict the way the user can behave, or enforce certain modes of behaviour. The same intentions are also evident in the design of many systems and environments. This site aims—with readers’ input—to examine and analyse the ideas and techniques of these architectures of control in design, through examples and anecdotes, and by keeping up-to-date with relevant developments. Link.

MediaCart Shopping-Cart Ad System

Advertising Age - Research Team Develops Shopping-Cart Ad System: " Each video screen is embedded with an RFID chip that interacts with chips installed on store shelves about every two feet. Without it, there would be no way to create point-of-decision advertising -- so a shopper strolling in the soda aisle would get an offer for Pepsi, for example -- a capability that could radically upend conventional in-store marketing practices... Beyond advertising, the system also promises to offer data insights long sought by consumer-product marketers. 'This will give you second-by-second data on shopping habits, dwell times, what aisles shoppers go down,' Mr. Kramer said. 'That's information that has never before been available.' "

(Via Ad Age.)