Like Selling Candy to a Baby

The Geppetto Group's Chris McKee concerns himself with "the appeal of fictional characters like Harry Potter and, more broadly, how kid culture had saturated consumer society to the extent that it was becoming the central creative marketing force," reports the New York Times. "Unlike most marketing agencies, Geppetto limits itself exclusively to 'kid products' and 'kid campaigns' for the likes of Lego, Little Tykes, Kids Foot Locker and Coca-Cola. ... Rachel Geller's psychological and anthropological field research on children and teenagers ... has helped Geppetto discern the 'eight kinds of fun' and 'six species of kids' and 'nine principles of family branding.'" Critics "maintain that marketing efforts directed at children have grown increasingly manipulative and pervasive."