>FCC massively deregulated children's TV in 1981, allowing toy companies to directly market show to children. >https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1983/12/23/fcc-weakens-policy-on-tv-for-children/f1404264-0c27-42ba-862a-ded4c9a7e435/>https://bettermarketing.pub/the-great-marketing-deregulation-2125a0efe094>All educational content and content actually good for children fell by the wayside.Saturday morning cartoons of the 1980s were the first time advertisers had a single dominant venue where they could market directly to children unmediated by parents or educators. They could directly tell the nation's 6-year-olds "You won't be happy unless you own this toy."
Result: The branded childhood. In-demand toys existed before the 1980s, of course, but it never had a fraction of the reach, homogeneity, and--especially--tie-in branding that was created in the 1950s.
We now have a generation of adults in their 30s and 40s who are neurologically incapable of differentiating positive feelings from franchises--their brains are wired that way. Nostalgia has always existed, but this is the first generation where it's completely owned by brands.
Now that the creators are themselves the product of being marketed to as children, the snake is eating its own tail--both the marketers and the audience want only an endless regurgitation of a commercial for 8-year-olds from 1987.
The consequences for actual creators are catastrophic--our demand for an eternal branded childhood serves to funnel money directly to corporate IP holders and away from anyone trying to make something new and different. There's no clear path to undo the damage. Now that the consolidation is driven not just by corporate corporate interests but by consumer demand, even re-regulating and de-monopolizing the industry wouldn't fix it. Even if we were offered alternatives, we wouldn't take them.
Thanks a lot, Reagan.