Stardoll may have been found highly intriguing, processed it's own celebrities, shown a light to several bullies, and lent a helping hand to aspiring bloggers. Even though all of these characteristics attributes to Stardoll in our real lives, none of these have the largest impacts, and it's about time Stardoll's greatest influences are brought to surface.
Stardoll is often times degrading to women. Just look at the body sizes. On Stardoll, the largest you can create your doll is still what would be considered skinny to average weight. Earlier 2011, Stardoll added another insult to the acceptance of all body types: they created another possibility to be even skinnier. Stardoll supports the "midriff" look, a hyper-sexualized persona and image that influences preteens and adolescence to use their bodies to get what they want.
Stardoll was created for kids, which was shocking in a media literal perspective. An 8 year old logs into Stardoll and is taught not only to become a glorified sexual archetype, but that stardom came with a price, her goal was to become the cover girl of a magazine, and that make up and revealing clothing was acceptable for her and her medoll. Numerous girls want to be a superstar when they grow up, hence why the name was so attractive. Besides Stardoll's theft of creative play necessary for children ages 6-12, Stardoll greatly exposes children to hackers, scammers, bullies, and profanity.
On commonsensemedia.org, (a reference I will be using throughout the post), a 12 year-old-girl reviews Stardoll and says:
"Also the dress-up dolls they wear bras if you take all the clothes off, and cleverage is shown, Also some of the shirts can have some scary pictures on them but not too bad."
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| An example of product placement. |
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| An example of branding on Stardoll. |
Stardoll is one large advertisement. With less-than-subtle product placement, Stardoll influences what movies you watch and where you shop. It is a psychological method researched by advertisement officials globally. Real brands are brought to Stardoll just so you would buy it in real life as well. Clubs created by sponsors show trailers, teasers, and commercials of whatever they are trying to "subliminally" sell to you, and offer a free item to motivate you to join. Here is some data collected from commonsensemedia.org regarding Stardoll reviews:
Average rating based on 42 kid and teen reviews:
- 45% say sexual content is an issue
- 36% say there are positive messages
- 29% say language is an issue
- 26% say they noticed product placement
To learn more about cradle-to-grave branding and the negative effects of product placement, I suggest you watch the documentary "No Logos," which is available on Google Videos.
"Product logos (KMart, Elle magazine, Vons) and pop culture entities (like Twilight, Justin Beiber, Hannah Montana) are peppered throughout the site in blog posts and on certain pages."
-commonsensemedia.org on Stardoll
Consumerism is a large issue globally, and Stardoll is only one of its many contributions. Before you buy the Sims 3 Pets or walk into a JC Penney department store, think to yourself, "Am I going here because I get the sense of familiarity?" Subconsciously, your brain is drawn to things you've seen before, which creates a level of trust between you and the brand. Try not supporting this by wearing logo-free outfits and keeping those free TVs with advertisements on them in your storage. You might save a young consumer from debt (this may sound silly but it is true).
Sincerely,
baltimorej
11 comments:
The images didn't work, try again (:
Oh sorry, I'll get it fixed. What did you think of the post?
Hmm... I at first skipped your post, as it appeared way too long. I have now got around to reading it and to be honest, I disagree with you. Obesity is just as much a problem as anorexia. I also believe that it will be difficult for stardoll to adjust clothes to fit all those different body parts. It is simply too much to ask for. Fashion itself also revolves around a different body type.
Stardoll MAY have originally been created for kids, but now there is a huge number of teens and adults playing as well. It is truly a parent's job to look after their child... This is one of the reasons I hate the whole stardoll censoring system. When I was 8, there wasn't a single child in my grade that didn't know what sex (or even a blowjob) was. Kids learn from each other in or out of stardoll.
Inappropriate clothing? Please. There is something called the internet. Celebrities are wearing 'inappropriate' clothing and in this case, we should ban that too.
Honestly, if you don't like stardoll, nobody is forcing you to stay. This goes not just to baltimorej but to everyone, really... It is their choice weather to advertise something or not... Personally, it doesn't have much of an impact on me.
Overall, I thought your post was okay. Your grammar and word choice was nice but the format of the post was a bit confusing... This is also not the first time I've seen a post about this. Rants DO get old.
@Sofi
You must have misunderstood the message of the post. I don't hate Stardoll at all, but it's product placement gets way out of hand. I didn't mention mention eating disorders, I was simply saying Stardoll, like Barbie, doesn't embrace plus sizes, which is it's own fashion league in itself.
I don't mean any disrespect to your judgment, but I have never seen someone write about product placement on Stardoll. I never took this a rant, but as a global phenomenon to be addressed.
After taking a year in the course of Media Literacy and acing it, Stardoll is a very good example in branding and withdrawal from creative play I'm considering writing a thesis on it.
It's easy to say "Well that doesn't apply to me" when you're on Stardoll or watching a commercial between breaks, but trust me, the advertising works. That is why they still do it and they find it very effective.
Perhaps it was my fault for assuming all readers would have good background knowledge of modern day consumerism, branding, and stereotyping. Sorry it was so long, I had so much to say and so many topics to cover, it could have been even longer.
I hope you didn't think I dislike Stardoll (I enjoy it) and am grasping at straws to vilify it. Of course there are plenty of other attributes to how preteens are influenced, but Stardoll is an excellent example.
Sorry this is a long comment, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a misunderstanding :)
I agree with lulla96, the formatting was a little strange. BUT I liked how it was supported with testimonies, surveys, and even a documentary (of which I actually watched). I think that's what makes it different from a rant (which is just on going venting versus something that is actually happening). Good job.
Okay, so, the post was long. You posted it on Wednesday and I'm just getting around to read it (today is Friday). Secondly, you said this year stardoll added a skinner option, although that option has always been there. Third, the cleavage thing, I personally think stardoll is trying to say accurate. People of all ages see boobs hanging out of girls shirts all the time in real life. Fourth, just like any other site. Ads will appear. Even on this blog there are ads, ads are used to help make money. Marketing is present everywhere in everyday life. And lastly, what exactly was your real life application?
For the cleavage thing, that was a quotation from somebody reviewing Stardoll, hence I said "a 12 year old girl says." I do not mean to be rude but I'm getting very frustrated with repeating myself.
Product placement is weaving ads into the material of a medium. This is VERY different than plain old advertising. Product placement is almost a subliminal advertisement, something tied in it is mean to be barely noticeable. Product placement is often times found in movies, music, and books. Please please please note that ads seen to the right/left/or above on a website is much different than somebody wearing a shirt that says "Dove-Go Fresh." It's really important to differentiate between the two and if it's still confusing then the post would be hard to understand.
The real life application was incorporating brands in real life into Stardoll to influence more shopping outside of Stardoll.
Sorry I really don't mean to be rude or have an attitude. I'm just feeling like I'm saying the same things over and over and that I accidentally assumed the general public knew more about the media than they did.
i dun kno why u guys hate her so much i actuali reli liked the post.
@anon, I don't hate her. I was just questioning to clarify for some people.
@BaltimoreJ, you weren't rude. Don't worry. I was just asking. See now I know exactly what you are talking about. Although, you still didn't tell me what was the relevance of the cleavage thing. You just repeated what you said in the post. And not alot of people know about product placement, i just finished the class in high school and what you said was far more advanced then I learned, so... yeah.
@Supa_star4real Phew! I really didn't want to come across as moody, and thank you for the constructive criticism. The cleavage thing was to show what the kids are actually noticing and it was to tag along with the body types.
Haha! I hope you learned some more then ;) (no mockery intended). Yes, I realize it was my fault for going a bit far-fetched and deep. I should have introduced what product placement was. Sorry (but otherwise THANK YOU for going into detail, I love it when I can find my strengths and weaknesses).
This article is great. I've played on Stardoll since I was eight and I've only just realized how much advertising goes on, and how inappropriate it can be!
Great article!
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