USC Media Student Bryn Kressin & Packaging Boyhood Book Winners!

Jan.1, 2010 Happy New Year! This joyous photo of youthful exuberance is Bryn Kressin, at left; one of our Shaping Youth winners of yesterday’s Packaging Boyhood book drawing where we pulled names from those who commented or tweeted about our weekly posts about boys, manhood and media messages impacting the males we love. The other two winners were author/educator Dr. Liz … [Read more...]

New Years Media Messages: Packaging Boyhood Meets The Hangover

Dec. 29, 2009 Last night I watched ‘The Hangover’ rated R, which I’d heard described by several YOUNG teens (meaning unable to buy a ticket unless sneaking in via diff. multiplex theater) as ‘hilarious,'  and ‘over the top’ and wanted to see where the kid appeal was coming from and try to ‘relate’ to why this movie was a ‘favorite’ on many a Facebook page. I'm not here to … [Read more...]

Turning Boys Into Monsters: Energy Drink Leaves A Foul Taste (Again)

Dec. 8, 2009 It’s Tuesday, time for our weekly “Packaging Boyhood” focus, so what better time than the holiday season to sound the 'red' siren on the 'green' brand that tween and teen boys are sucking up to...Monster energy drink. With everything from motocross and macho madness to the thumping, screaming, ‘over the top’ rebel yell, Monster ‘packs a vicious punch’ by … [Read more...]

Who’s Your Fave Fictional Male Rodel Model & Why?

Update June 14, 2014 With Father's Day approaching I thought I'd add Common Sense Media's "Favorite Film Fathers" just for fun...and reprise my post about "Media's Portrayal of Father Figures On TV" ......But truth be told, I'm most excited that HUGE gains are coming with excellent books and films uncorking important conversations about healthy masculinity, including The … [Read more...]

Disney XD: A Case Study on Packaging Boyhood

Nov. 3, 2009 In diving into media messages targeting boys for my weekly Tuesday Packaging Boyhood posts, my mind snap went to ‘gaming’ pronto. Is this a stereotype? Or did I just do a Malcolm Gladwell style "Blink” in rapid cognition? I flipped to the Packaging Boyhood chapter on “What Boys Do” since we know marketers are tapping a boy’s desire to be ‘powerful’ and admired … [Read more...]