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Does this actually appeal to kids?

Am I just a horrible cynic for thinking that this sort of ad doesn't actually appeal to kids?

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July 18th, 2006 | Category: Library promotion, Technology, Video | Subscribe to comments | Both comments and pings are currently closed

4 Responses to “Does this actually appeal to kids?”

1
Yvonne:
July 19th, 2006 at 6:33 pm
Hmmm. I think this ad may fall short of the goal. I can see why they took the Mtv-like approach – getting those age groups in the library is difficult. I noticed that they followed the typical rap video format of having the females dance around the room. What kind of message are they really going for here?
2
Jami:
July 23rd, 2006 at 9:23 pm
http://www.libraryloft.org/videos/srHigh.ram

Library Loft from PLCMC created another video. The teens wrote and directed it. If the teens wrote and directed the video for Toedo then I would congratulate them.
3
David Rothman:
July 24th, 2006 at 10:06 am
I agree, Jami, that if this was made by teens, they should be praised for their creative work.

What I’m questioning is whether or not this is an effective and useful marketing tool. If video advertisement is to be an effective marketing tool for libraries, I find it hard to believe that this would be the best utilization of the media to start packin’ ‘em into the library. I have doubts about the usefulness of trying to so directly sell libraries as “cool” to kids or teens. I think they’re more sophisticated in their judgements on audio/video production than they are often given credit for being.
4
Emily:
July 24th, 2006 at 6:35 pm
I agree that if the kids themselves came up with it, they should get props for the project. That said, it seems much more likely to me that they were assigned to compose a song about how much they like the library, and this was the best resulting project.

What’s the message here–That you can rap in the library? Or that the library is a cool place for you, a young person who likes hip-hop, to hang out? I’ll assume that they’re going for the latter, but then they have a problem, because they’ve failed to tell the viewer what he or she can do in the library, other than join the summer reading club. The summer reading club part is tacked on at the end and apparently unrelated to the music, which has a good (if obvious) point about knowledge and power. It might have been more effective to show a teen going into the library and learning about web design (knowledge) and then creating a site for her band (power), or finding out about voter registration (knowledge) and voting in an election (power).

As a showcase for the kids’ talents, I think this is pretty good, and I’m not even particularly bothered by the gyrating young lady, as she has the main speaking part. As an advertisement for the library, I think it’s neutral–neither enticing nor uncool enough to be damaging.

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