Popular culture, few could argue, attempts to manipulate your children’s needs and wants and motivate them to buy food, toys, clothing, electronics, and other products that have no redeeming value, are unhealthy, or send them the wrong messages. Popular culture is big business, to the tune of $1.2 billion a year in advertising in 2010, a double-digit increase over 2009. Research has also shown that children have influence in their family over the food and drink purchases of $100 billion each year, much of it unhealthy. Popular culture wants you to raise consumers, not children! The line between entertainment and advertising is becoming increasingly blurred. For example, The Hub, a television network aimed at children that has a 50 percent ownership stake by the toy manufacturer Hasbro was launched in 2010. Commercials aside, this channel’s programming is basically a direct marketing platform for selling Hasbro toys. Additionally, the recent technological advances have enabled companies that market to children to create “supersystems” around their brands that incorporate 360-degree multimedia universes devoted exclusively to selling their products that include television shows, web sites, YouTube videos, fan clubs, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, and video games, as well as traditional advertising. As Robert Iger, the President of Walt Disney, comments, “Reaching dramatically and deeply,…” has allowed Disney to, “...enter the hearts and minds of people all over the world.” Do you really want Disney and the like to enter your children’s hearts and minds? I sure don’t.