Boys and Brands

his youtube video about kids and brand recognition appeared in a Grist article earlier this week. It got me thinking about the brands my own kids can recognize, so I had them watch it on mute with the words covered up.


I watched it first with Rylan alone. His answers can basically be summarized as, "Circle, circle, circle, rectangle, Target, circle, circle, tiger." Um, we might go to Target a little too often...He did not identify McDonalds or Disney, but the second time he watched it, he saw the BP logo and said, "Gas."

Cole and Eli watched it together, so Eli's answers are probably skewed because of Cole's quick recall skills. (The kid will kick butt on the academic team someday.) Cole knew "Coke,"* KFC, Starbucks, Disney, Apple, "American Bank," Chili's**, and McDonalds. Eli echoed Disney and McDonalds and also knew Monster Drinks. You can blame his dad for that one.

When the XBox logo came on, Cole yelled, "I know that one! I know that one! It's...." And both boys thought the Bell Systems logo was Taco Bell.

*It was actually Pepsi. Cole's defense: "But Pepsi is a type of coke."

**We have never been to Chili's as a family. I don't think we've even talked about going to Chili's. Maybe he's really observant?

***If the subject of advertising to children interests you, one of the first posts I wrote over at the Conscious Shopper was about kids and consumerism, and this is a really good book.