It's A Girl Thing: Tween Queens and the Commodification of the Girl's Tween Market

A few years of research, thoughts and adjustments that all led to a completed film which, framed by the structure of a faux interactive website for tween girls, looks closely, and critically, at the tween market's evolution and the role of Disney and Nickelodeon's tween queens (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Britney Spears, Hilary Duff, Miley Cryus, Miranda Cosgrove, Kiki Palmer, Selena Gomez, and more) in the market's explosion.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Rah, Rah, Rah, Sis, Boom, BLAHHH! - Officially Rejected by American Girl


Noone can say I didn't give them a chance to speak for themselves in my obviously "high-quality production"....

***********
My email to them via their online media request form:
Name: Shannon Silva
Publication: Documentary
Does this person want to be on the mailing list?: No
Additional Information: Hello, I am currently working on a documentary that looks at the rise and evolution of the girls tween market and I would very much like to interview a marketing representative from American Girl. With the various brands out today it would be unfortunate not to respresent American Girl, one of the largest brands in the market. If someone could please contact me by phone to discuss this possibility I would be greatly appreciative.

Their response nearly two weeks later:
Shannon,
Thank you very much for your interest in including American Girl in your upcoming documentary project. Although your film is obviously a high-quality production, we are going to take a pass on the opportunity. American Girl takes a very conservative approach when it comes to discussing the development and marketing of our products. We don’t release specific marketing strategies or financial information. Also, we operate on a very lean staff and schedules are such that it’s very difficult to coordinate interviews.

Again, thank you for your interest and best wishes for the success of the film.

Sincerely,
Susan
Susan Jevens
Senior PR Associate
American Girl

6 Comments:

At 9:24 PM, Blogger Devin said...

It's nice to see that Susan Susan Jevens thought highly of your high-quality production. :-)

 
At 6:37 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey, it's their loss. Wait a minute, don't you get to say something like "American Girl declined to be interviewed" -- and then make lots of innuendos about their marketing practices?

I certainly appreciate the historical book/doll tie-in, but at the end of the day? They're selling $100 dolls. And accessories.

Ack!

 
At 1:45 PM, Blogger silvashan said...

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At 1:51 PM, Blogger silvashan said...

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At 7:56 AM, Blogger silvashan said...

Aargh! I keep deleting my posts. Let me try this again...

I agree about the $100 dolls. Not to mention the in-store beauty salon and child-size clothing for the doll owners, the how-to-make/manage-money books for young girls, the american girl restaurant. I do appreciate the essence of their historical (and somewhat feminist) message in the actual storylines, but the sheer ginormous size of their product line puts them in the same money making machine category as many of the other brands out there.

My hope was that the interview could discuss these conflicting agendas and give them a chance to speak for themselves.

 
At 5:57 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

OK, didn't know about the in-store beauty salons. I have so much to learn.

Thanks for the blogroll.

 

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