Shaping Youth BETA BLOG

I’m not going to give this much mindshare, as I don’t want to stoke the viral blitz.

This little ‘pass around’ promo for a newly released PlayStation/Xbox game is blasting teen boys, extreme sports wannabes, GenX gamers, and, well…most any guy with a pulse.

Yeah, I’m posting the game box instead of the provocative buxom tattooed lady circulating around ‘click-n-pass’ style, but the gist is this:

You decide where on a woman’s body you want to place a tattoo, write a message then send it to a friend…

When you click, it opens to a sultry auburn beauty that winks, “Where do you want it?” Then it autoloads to the tattoo parlor promo for the ‘extreme’ motocross game, “Crusty Demons.” Viewers choose from a frame of suggestive poses. (bottom, top, take on a whole new meaning)

London’s New Media Maze clearly knew what they were doing, because it’s evident the sophomoric schoolboys at Adrants continue to drool over these ‘body as billboard’ gimmicks. This time they headlined, “Cleavage, hip, abdomen, arm tattoos promote game,” and editorialized, “We found ourselves somewhere in the middle of two round objects with the message, AdRants was here.”

Yeah, yeah, ‘sex sells,’ yadayada and true, the game they’re promoting is rated “M” so not technically targeting under 17, a la ‘Grand Theft Auto,’ but here’s the thing…

…When 14 is the new 17 and 11 is the new 14, and 8 is the new 11 and on & on it goes, then you’ve got a situation that’s not just accelerating childhood, it’s eroding kids’ mental and physical health.

According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery in one year’s time, teen breast implants nearly tripled, & over 220,000 kids under 18 had cosmetic procedures of some kind.

Do my ever-edgier colleagues REALLY think these trends take place in a bubble without a heave-ho from the media machine?

Hyper-objectifying every aspect of appearance and sexuality for profit is creating a 24/7 blast zone of ‘in your face’ body image and harsh innuendo. And the results are starting to show up in some disturbing places.

I’m writing and producing a film short that tracks the impact showing up behaviorally on K-5 playgrounds. It’s called, Body Blitz: Media, Shaping Youth. And trust me, it’s not pretty.

“Is your butt really Juicy?” (4th grade boy taunting a brand-wearing classmate)

“He said I had big boobs” (5th grade girl in tears, being teased)

“Oh yeah? Well you have wet dreams!” “Do not!” “Do too!” (5th grader bullying a peer)

When you’ve got “Pants-Off Dance-Off” being Fuse network’s new cult hit as the most popular series ever, well… I guess we can all chalk it up as another bellwether for the tawdry tackiness of our times.

In relative terms, virtual tattooing is less harmful than the ‘post your booty via web cam contest’ Bubba Sparxx-Virgin Records promo used to blatantly encourage 12-17 girls to viral market their backsides.

…But with those kind of benchmarks, society’s collective conscience has pretty much hit bottom. (or breast, or whatever body part du’jour is being served to kids)

p.s. Saving grace: Game reviewers found the game itself technically quirky and lame, so it should bite the dust quickly. My guess is the viral will get more play.

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