Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers

It should come as no surprise that advertisers work hard to sell products to kids. Teens spend $153 billion a year in luxury goods, after all. Quart raises the question of whether the methods marketers use are taking advantage of teenagers' naïvete. She says yes. She finds product sellers trying to infiltrate and recruit teen opinion leaders. We see cash-starved school districts pressured into accepting advertising on campus. Product placements are everywhere, from video games to music videos. And the effects go beyond just convincing a thirteen-year-old to buy a CD—Quart sees teen liposuction and other cosmetic enhancement surgeries on a rapid rise. Although the book somewhat underplays the sophistication of today's Internet-savvy, cell phone-equipped teen consumer, Branded should prod all businesspeople to reexamine the methods used to approach younger consumers.