Comprised of source boards, book covers and postering, Youth CAPTV is the latest in-school advertising venture. Youth CAPTV parent company Blue Fusion Managing Partner Morris Reid says he’s aware of the dicey prospect of in-school advertising but is a proponent of the channel as long as it is done tastefully.
“Schools are strapped for revenue, so I think they’re looking towards arrangements that are more entrepreneurial,” Reid said. “It’s a necessity for them, really, and I think our model is both viable and appropriate.”
I have mixed feeling about in-school advertising writing in a previous post, “Whether this is harmful to children will be debated for years to come. There should be a time of innocence in life where commercialism does not enter in with its powerfully persuasive messages selling things people don’t really need or want. Young minds have enough trouble filtering through the information that is relevant to their daily lives. The age at which a kid becomes indoctrinated into commercial culture gets younger every year. Let’s not get to the point where a newly delivered baby, eyes just cleared by the doctor, stares at the ceiling of the delivery room and sees a McDonald’s logo.”
I’m not entirely sure I see it that way anymore. Like anything, done right, this initiative could prove to provide commercialism that is far more “vetted” than what kids see and hear in other media. One can be sure, with all the teachers, parents and administrators walking school hallways, any advertiser that “crosses the line” will be booted out immediately. There’s a built in ad-review board of sorts. And that’s not even accounting for the jaded “you can’t sell me” attitude that’s already pervasive in today’s youth which can instantly flop any ad campaign attempting to “fool” its target.
It’s no secret that school districts need money to survive. They’re already pocketing money from school bus advertising and other means. While advertising continues to be the necessarily evil contract between marketer and consumer, it can become a productive and informative conversation as well. Let’s hope this latest move heads in that direction.
