the outside, sticking out from the side of the garment. (They're *all* on the left side too, regardless of brand. How did that happen?) I didn't really think much of it at first, which only goes to show how insidious the culture of brand identity has become. Not until I realized that nearly every outfit he owns has an external tag, did I start to think about how weird that is. It's a small thing, but what bothers me about these little tags is what they stand for: the fact that children are targeted by marketers from birth with the intention of establishing brand loyalties. What bothers me even more is that I can't easily opt myself or my kids out of this trend. I've tried to opt out to some extent, and it's hard work -- time consuming and often more expensive. Sigh.
The ubiquitousness of these external tags may be recent, but it's not really new. Some of the innovators of the idea were absolutely "up-front" about it. Funny how I never thought of this label as offensive:
I guess if it's around long enough, it becomes normal. Not sure how I feel about that.
8 comments:
We try not to have too many labels or character-specific stuff for the kids. And it's been so haaaaard! Seriously. It's like every pair of shoes for the kids has some cartoon character on it. I think they're cute and all, but I don't want my kid walking around and advertising tv shows to other kids. It's like guerilla marketing. Seriously.
Sigh.
And, HA, I totally forgot about the label in the front. It's so obvious, it's sneaky. Oy.
I hear you, Stephanie. While the smaller tags don't bother me too much (the overalls you've pictured sit okay with me -- maybe because I'm conditioned to them?) but I refuse to buy my children clothing with a brand name in huge letters across the front of it. Those GAP sweatshirts or OLD NAVY t-shirts? Nope, don't buy them. (Though I do buy other, front-label-free things from those stores.) And I tend to shy away from character clothing too, for the same reason. They way I see it, if a company wants my child to be a walking advertisement, they can pay us to wear the clothes. *grin*
The diaper thing is really kind of funny though -- diapers as a status symbol?! ;)
You're so right...scary thing, I hadn't really thought about it before.
I will now, though.
Heidi
Hi Ladies,
I knew I wasn't alone in this. That's really what bugs me -- so many parents would just as soon marketers leave their kids alone, but unless we hide our children under a rock (or in a cupboard under the stairs?), the commercial world manages to get hold of them one way or another.
Jen, I follow the same policy as you with regard to character or blatant advertising. The little side-tags only bother me for what they symbolize (see above). I'm not going to go out of my way to avoid them, or he'd never wear a cute outfit again. And the label on the overalls? I never even gave it a second thought until I went to his dresser to pull out examples of the side-tags for the photograph. There was that big bib label screaming out from the front of *3* pairs of his pants! I think we do become conditioned to it, don't you?
Ahhh...those crazy clothing marketers. *sassy grin* Of course, I can easily see the flip side - the brand loyal (insanely loyal!) consumers who view our products as a statement of the lifestyle they choose to live. Of course, that doesn't apply to a little baby. My kids' clothes are nearly all brand-name-free (I too openly discourage the character clothing...and the Gap/Old Navy on-body ads...fortunately, both kids dislike those as well.) But they both wear The Northface jackets with that logo. I guess we're conditioned to that one.
Good food for thought. Now I'm off to design some more labels for clothing.... =)
I *did* think about you V, when I wrote this post. I was hoping you wouldn't feel picked on, because that wasn't my intent. Thanks for your thoughts!
I must admit I hadn't thought about this too much--we tend to buy from thrift stores for the most part, or Old Navy because it's inexpensive. Liam hates character clothing, so I just hadn't spent much time thinking about it. Tessa, however, does have one or two shirts with Dora on them...!
It's worth thinking about--you're right!
Here's a thought - you could cut those side labels off! Then it would just be a cute outfit without the advertising.
I never really noticed that either though. I'm sure now I will. Of course jeans have been doing it since Vidal Sassoon back in th early 80's. I think we should all blame him! ;) (Kidding, of course. But it really has just snowballed since then.)
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