While Oregon law explicitly states that “A woman may breast-feed her child in a public place,” the staff at a Portland Marshalls store are apparently not well-versed in local laws or their employer’s own policies. [More]
kids
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Find Ancient And Mysterious My Little Ponies
By 8.25.15
Within the elite squad of retail archaeologists known as the Raiders of the Lost Walmart, some Raiders have subspecialties. Their deep subject knowledge gives us a better understanding of the antiquities that they find buried in the nation’s big-box stores. One of these specialists is Professor Jeffrey, subject expert on My Little Pony. [More]
Stingy Tooth Fairy Paying Out Less Per Tooth For Second Year In A Row
By 8.18.15
The Tooth Fairy’s coffers must be running low, as kids across the land can expect less money under their pillow for the second year in a row. According to this year’s survey from Visa, the Tooth Fairy on average is leaving about $3.19 per lost tooth, down $0.24 from last year. That makes two years in a row that the Tooth Fairy has tightened purse strings and left pillows less lumpy than desired. And yet it’s still more than the quarters we used to get as kids, so consider yourselves lucky, kiddos. [via Visa’s Practical Money Skills] [More]
HBO Will Get 9-Month Exclusive Window On New Sesame Street Episodes
By 8.13.15
In an attempt to make its cable and streaming services more appealing to families, HBO has struck a five-year deal with the folks at Sesame Workshop that will give the premium cable channel a 9-month exclusive window on new Sesame Street episodes. [More]
Target Promises To Stop Sorting Kids’ Merchandise By Gender
By 8.7.15
While every kid has preferences, there’s no reason why little boys can’t play with dollhouses or why little girls can’t play with plastic dinosaurs. Some parents, kids, and other activists have started to ask retailers why store sections for anything marketed to kids is always separated into strict “girls” and “boys” sections with signage to match. One retailer announced today that they’ll be changing that. [More]
Family Says They Were Booted From JetBlue Flight For Holding 2-Year-Old On Lap
By 7.30.15
A family that purchased a separate seat for their 2-year-old son on a JetBlue flight say they were just trying to comfort the youngster by having him sit on his mom’s lap during takeoff, but that the flight attendants treated them like a safety risk and had them kicked off the plane. [More]
Diner Owner Defends Yelling At Crying “Beast” Of A Child
By 7.20.15
The owner of a diner in Portland, Maine, does not appear to be terribly concerned about the social media backlash resulting from her admitted hollering at a crying child and then later dubbing that youngster a “beast” and “monster” on Facebook. [More]
Comcast’s New Remote Control Now Advertises Comcast-Distributed Kids Movie
By 6.29.15
Hey kids, isn’t vertical integration awesome? Thanks to Comcast’s acquisition of NBC/Universal, the cable giant can now use its latest high-tech remote control to advertise its feature films directly to your living room! Let’s all cheer for cross-promotional, cross-platform, market-targeted, gibberish-spouting synergy!! [More]
McDonald’s: Fewer Happy Meals Are Being Ordered With Sodas
By 6.25.15
Back in the fall of 2013, McDonald’s decided to jump on the healthyish bandwagon and stopped pushing sodas with Happy Meals, removing them from the menu and marketing materials but still providing them to customers who ordered them. That move has apparently worked to cut down on soda consumption at the Golden Arches, as the chain says fewer Happy Meals are being ordered with sodas. [More]
Ad Watchdog: Toy Lightsaber Doesn’t Light Up, Commercial Is Misleading
By 6.22.15
As far as we know, the Jedi are not real. Lightsabers are not real. For children, though, the lines between real life and fiction can get a little fuzzy. That’s why the ad industry’s self-regulation body is not impressed with Hasbro’s ad for an awesome double-bladed lightsaber, since it cuts footage of an animated character together with footage of a kid playing with the toy, which creates the impression that the toy lightsaber lights up. It doesn’t. [More]
YouTube Kids Accused Of Running Beer Ads, Crotch-Grabbing Lessons, Wine-Tasting Tips
By 5.19.15
Since Google launched the YouTube Kids app in February, the service has come under fire from consumer advocates for its advertising practices. Now, instead of focusing on the commercials shown through the service, several of those same groups are raising concerns with federal regulators over what they call disturbing and potentially harmful content for young children to view. [More]
Detergent Pod Poisonings Increase, Even After Changes To Packaging
By 5.15.15
In spite of efforts by manufacturers to make their laundry detergent pods look less like candy in a jar, the number of poisoning incidents related to these products continues to grow. [More]
Turns Out Kids Can React On Camera To New Technology As Well As Weird Old Stuff
By 5.4.15
The Internet just loves it when kids are put on camera reacting with things, but it seems we are not content to find out how children behave when faced with Walkmans and cameras that use film, but words also come out of their mouths at the sight of shiny, new technology. Who knew? [More]
Senate Investigating For-Profit Foster Care Industry
By 4.27.15
The federal government provides around $7 billion each year in funding for foster care providers around the country, but leaves much of the oversight of these operations up to the states and local governments. These entities may then contract out foster care to private, for-profit providers. Recent reports have raised questions about the safety of the children placed into the care of some of these privatized foster networks, and now the U.S. Senate is beginning to ask questions. [More]
Pediatricians Say Using Teaspoons & Tablespoons For Kids’ Medicine Leads To Overdoses
By 3.30.15
While some parents pull out actual measuring spoons when pouring out a teaspoon or tablespoon of their kids’ medications, many just resort to employing the same utensils they use for family meals. But while you might use a spoon for tea, that doesn’t mean it holds only a teaspoon of liquid, and a larger spoon may or may not actually hold a tablespoon. In an effort to cut down on thousands of annual overdose cases, the American Academy of Pediatrics is calling for medications to be measured in milliliters. [More]
Texas Roadhouse Serves Up Sangria To 2-Year-Old Girl
By 3.23.15
When you order a cranberry juice for your 2-year-old daughter and the server brings her a glass containing a dark red beverage, you probably wouldn’t think to sample the drink to make sure she hadn’t been given a glass full of boozy sangria. [More]
How McDonald’s Markets To Kids Through Moms & Teachers
By 3.20.15
McDonald’s has long been a target of critics of toy-filled Happy Meals who believe that these menu offerings are used to entice kids to eat fast food. The same goes with people who call for the retirement of Ronald McDonald (though one could argue that having a terrifying perma-grin clown as the face of your company isn’t exactly kid-friendly). But McDonald’s kid-targeted marketing doesn’t rely on Happy Meals; it extends into their schools and maybe even to their homes. [More]
