Selling to Five Year Olds

 By Al Baker - Posted at Forget None Of His Benefits:

Published November 14, 2024

Don’t become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking, Romans 12:2.

Taylor Swift hit the pop music world back in 2006 as a fresh faced, innocent sixteen year old. While being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on her rock star status, Oprah asked her about her latest boyfriend to which Taylor blushed with embarrassment. Her appeal then was to a younger audience of prepubescent kids. She portrayed a persona of sweetness and kindness, music that moms loved for their young girls to hear. As time progressed, however, her shows have become more raunchy sprinkled in with her leftwing politics.

Do you remember when Britney Spears burst onto the adolescent culture scene in 1999? She was so wholesome, claiming to be a Christian and a virgin. She was a twelve year old star in 1993 on the All New Mickey Mouse Club. Her persona has noticeably morphed over the years and she has lost the wholesomeness she once portrayed and she has also had numerous arrests and bouts with alcohol and drugs.

Do you remember Miley Cyrus as the wholesome star of the Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana, the “girl next door with a heart of gold?” She ditched the good girl image by the time she was sixteen and told Rolling Stone magazine of her use of marijuana and ecstasy. These women have all re-invented themselves many times. Is this an accident or is this a well orchestrated marketing plan?

Walt Mueller writes in “How to Make a Pop Star” of how in 2005 he attended a conference for marketers on how successfully to market to children ages two to twelve. Yes, you read correctly—age two to twelve. Mueller says that a woman from Virgin Records, who claims to be the one responsible for Britney’s stardom, outlined how she did it, and how they continue to make pop stars. First, she said they had to put Britney in the public eye and portray her as the All American girl. Why? She had to grab the attention of children. Then their mothers, the gatekeepers to the family and the pocketbook holders, had to approve of Britney as wholesome if there was any hope of selling music, tickets, and merchandise. Believe it or not, the target audience reached down to four and five year olds.[1]

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