youth

Every now and then, I come across some stories that make me cringe. Unfortunately, this is one such story. The New York Times is reporting today that Target made itself look like a fool because of the idiocy of its public relations arm.

According to the Times, a blog about the impact of marketing on children called Shaping Youth found issue with Target's latest ad campaign that showed a woman behind Target's logo. And while the site's founder Amy Jussel didn't necessarily find fault in the depiction of the woman, she was perturbed by Target's decision to place the bull's-eye directly over the woman's crotch.

Upon sending an email message to Target to get an explanation for the ad, the major retailer said that it was "unable to respond to [her] inquiry because Target does not participate with nontraditional media outlets."

Wow. What a bunch of clowns.… Read more

Iowa what?

Amid the frenzied press coverage over Thursday's too-close-to-call caucuses in the Hawkeye State, 153,226 MySpace.com users have already cast their (unofficial) votes.

In a set of "virtual primaries" held on Tuesday and Wednesday, Republican Rep. Ron Paul and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama were declared the winners of the News Corp.-owned social-networking site's polls.

The poll was conducted entirely through MySpace's Impact political site. And for those who have been following Election 2008 on the Web, neither "victory" is particularly surprising.

On the Democratic side, MySpace users selected Obama … Read more

As part of its quadrennial "Choose or Lose" youth voting initiative, MTV has announced a "Street Team" of 51 young amateur journalists, one from each state and the District of Columbia, who have been selected to cover the 2008 election and emphasize issues important to the younger generation.

"We couldn't ignore the explosion in self-publishing and self-organization and all the tools that young people have now to express themselves on issues of importance as well as consume information," said Ian Rowe, vice president of public affairs and strategic partnerships and MTV, "and … Read more

Money is boring, unless you're spending it on something like an iPhone or a cute new pair of shoes.

Or unless you make investment cool, which is what a new company called Thrasher Funds is trying to do. It's a new mutual fund that's targeting the under-35 crowd with a bunch of youth-oriented and tech-focused holdings (Apple, Uniqlo, Diageo, American Apparel, Volkswagen, Google, and Garmin), "investment parties," and a Web site that looks like a Good Charlotte album cover.

"Commercials from financial behemoths only implore Baby Boomers to start planning and saving for their … Read more

MTV has just launched a new social-networking community for youth activism, ThinkMTV, which is designed to network members both online and offline around causes ranging from climate change to HIV/AIDS. While as a standalone network it's not particularly momentous or innovative (although few names come to mind in the "social networking with a social conscience" space that specifically target the MTV demographic), ThinkMTV is worth noting because it's the first major operation to be unveiled as part of MTV parent company Viacom's new Flux social networking initiative.

MTV representatives told CNET News.com in … Read more

We've always had a soft spot for JBL speakers, going back to the halcyon days of our youth when we had little to do but lust after a set for our stereos. So we fully admit that we were nostalgically biased upon viewing the stunning design of the company's new Spot and Spyro lines on Chip Chick, which were introduced earlier this year in Germany. They have interchangeable covers that can be personalized with different colors and designs, including flower-shaped satellite wrappers. But if you're looking for something with more of a Halloween theme, you might consider … Read more