Critics riled
that teen book
plugs makeup
B y
Joann
Klimkiewicz
Hartford
Courant
October 1,
2006
The book's
main character
sips
Coca-Cola,
shops at
Borders and
paints her
face in shades
of "metallic
rose" and
"midnight
metal"
CoverGirl
makeup. Not
unusual for a
young adult
novel
attempting to
anchor its
story line in
the language
and material
realities of
its targeted
teen audience.
But in the
forthcoming
Cathy's Book:
If Found Call
(650)
266-8233, it's
that last
product
mention that
has
child-advocacy
groups raising
a wary brow.
Running Press,
the book's
publisher, has
partnered with
Procter &
Gamble,
CoverGirl's
owner, to
incorporate
the cosmetics
line in the
plot. No money
changed hands
in the deal.
But in return
for having its
makeup
referenced in
the book's
text and
illustrations,
P&G will
promote the
book, due out
next month, on
CoverGirl.com
and
BeingGirl.com,
a Web site for
teenage girls.
(CoverGirl
products are
made in Hunt
Valley.)
Monetary
payment or
not, the
Campaign for a
Commercial-Free
Childhood
calls it
product
placement,
that
commonplace
marketing
tactic in
television and
film. And now
it's entering
a new frontier
of young adult
literature.
"It's harder
and harder to
find
commercial-free
space in kids'
lives. Books
used to be a
refuge from
that kind of
blatant
commercialism.
Now kids
aren't even
protected when
they read,"
says Susan
Linn,
co-founder of
the
Boston-based
advocacy
group.
Particularly
troubling in
this method,
as opposed to
Disney books'
clearly
promoting the
company's
animated
films, she
says, is that
the audience
might not
recognize
they're being
advertised to.
"It's not
obvious, which
makes it more
powerful,"
says Linn.
The group has
launched a
campaign
urging Running
Press, an
imprint of
Perseus Books,
to remove the
placement from
the novel. The
Association of
Booksellers
for Children
is supporting
the campaign,
and Commercial
Alert, a
watchdog group
in Oregon, has
written to 350
book critics
asking them to
boycott review
of the book.
It's amounted
to a lot of
buzz for a
book that has
yet to hit
store shelves.
"It is
interesting to
hear so many
opinions from
so many people
who never
requested an
advance copy,"
David
Steinberger,
president of
Perseus, wrote
in Publishers
Weekly.
"It is ironic
that Cathy's
Book critics
see a cause
celebre, when
literature is
filled with
product
mentions to
enhance
verisimilitude,"
he wrote.
Rick Joyce, a
spokesman for
Perseus, says
there was
nothing covert
about the
partnership.
The publisher
discloses it
in the
copyright page
and announced
it to the
press in June.
At that time,
the authors
explained to
The New York
Times that
they weren't
commissioned
by P&G. They
had already
written the
story using
Clinique
products when
the
partnership
was suggested.
"Teens are
highly
marketed to in
all sorts of
ways. They're
very savvy
about it," he
says. And
they're smart
enough to know
if it works or
doesn't. "This
is just a
great book
that
intentionally
blurs the
lines between
the narrative
and the real
world in ways
that are
obvious."
Written by
Sean Stewart
and Jordan
Weisman, the
book is being
praised as an
inventive,
interactive
take on the
stale
young-adult
genre. Written
in journal
form, the book
centers on a
17-year-old
named Cathy
who follows a
string of
clues to
investigate
why her older
boyfriend has
hastily broken
up with her
and
disappeared.
Readers trail
along, using a
packet of
"evidence"
taped to the
front cover,
calling up
working phone
numbers and
Web sites that
are scattered
throughout the
narrative.
"I've read the
book. And I
liked it ...
and the idea
of readers'
being able to
extend their
experience"
via the
mixed-media
elements, says
Kristen
McLean,
executive
director of
the
booksellers
association.
"But I think
you can have
plenty of
interactivity
without" the
commercial
tie-in.
The issue is
not the
product
mention but
the
cross-promotional
agreement
behind it that
muddies the
literary
waters.
"Reading is a
solitary,
intimate
experience. By
placing a
product
message right
in a book,
you're getting
right into a
teen's head,
which I think
is morally
ambiguous."
The campaign
worries this
is a slippery
slope for
future product
placement.
Will a book's
capacity to
push a product
be a
prerequisite
for
publication?
"If this is a
slippery
slope, and we
don't see it
that way,"
says Joyce,
"then it's a
slope that
every other
medium has
already slid
down." |
