Randomly following links, lily-padding from blog to blog (like a blogfrog, naturally), I came across Cool 2B Real. The cutesy graphics and predominance of pastel colours looked like a typical young girls magazine, but the rather saccharine text (“… strive to be the best you can be!”) made me wonder if it was more of a religious thing.
Then I scrolled to the bottom… links to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Right. Eat lots of beef and you’ll have loads of cool friends for sleepovers and nice clothes and the coolest room and loads of great CDs and…
Even more sinisterly, the third link at the bottom of the page is for the Circle 1 Network, specialists in “marketing to kids and tweens, and marketing to families through interactive strategies”. I’ve said this before: some Americans really scare me.