Product Placement for Breakfast?

When Georgia was younger we drove by Burgerville, our locally owned, wind-powered, canola-oil-to-biodiesel-recycling, affordable-employee-healthcare-offering, Mary’s-Softdough-kid-meal-goodie-giving fast food joint. We had been to a different Burgerville once or twice, but we were surprised when Georgia said as we passed by, “Can we go to Burgerville?” She recognized the BV logo even though she didn’t know letters — and even though we had been there very few times and this wasn't the location we had gone to.

We know — kids recognize brands before they can read. Advertisers know this too, and spend much money and effort trying to make sure our kids recognize, and pester for, their particular brand of fast food badness. Georgia knows about fast food. She chants the mantra that fast food isn’t good for you, and knows that Burgerville is someplace we go on rare occasions. We’ve told her a little bit about why we don’t eat much fast food, and why we choose Burgerville over others, but we haven’t talked about what the others are.



Jump to now. We read the daily comic section every morning here at Chez Momster. Some of Georgia’s favorites are Mutts, Baby Blues and, inexplicably (and with much parental editing) Pearls Before Swine. Some days others catch her eye, and last week it was Mother Goose and Grimm. The week of 1/7 – 1/12/08 was an odd story line; the characters ate too much corporate branded cereal and turned into the different corporate logos. It flew right over Georgia’s head. She didn’t know who Cap’n Crunch, Tony the Tiger and the Quaker Oat guy were, but we wondered if there was any way she could not know Ronald McDonald, appearing in the final strip of the week after Mother Goose had eaten too much of the fast food.



Hova: What did Mother Goose turn into?

Georgia: A clown!

Hova: Did she eat too much clown?

Georgia: Mayyybe so?



Georgia used to eat a lot of turkey jerky, and for some reason she called it “clown.” We never figured out why, and made clear that no clowns had been harmed in the making of the turkey jerky. It was funny when we'd go to the store and she would yell, “I WANT CLOWN!” pointing at the jerky. So this particular comic was confusing to her: Was Mother Goose eating a real clown? Why did she turn into a clown and not a turkey?

We always play dumb when it comes to these moments, if it’s something we don’t want to explain we just say, “I don’t get it, do you?”

In any case, it was exciting to us that she didn’t know Ronald McDonald—McDonald’s just isn’t in our vocabulary, or her worldview.



Farther along in the funnies that same day, Grand Avenue featured the McDonald's corporate logo amid classic American symbols.



Hova tested: There’s the American Flag, an eagle and Uncle Sam. What’s that, is it the St. Louis arch?

Belinda: Is it an inchworm?

Georgia: I think it’s just an M.



Was it some sort of product placement scheme, or just weird comic artist zeitgeist? We’ll keep our eyes peeled for more corporate logos in the comic pages, and be ever vigilant for teachable moments about advertising where we didn’t have much worry before. And sorry Mickey D’s, Georgia isn’t hooked. Yet.

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