"Cathy's Book" - opening the door to direct marketing to youth through novels

Speaking of books, last September (2006) a youth adult novel came out from Running Press called "Cathy's Book: If Found Call (650) 266-8233." The book is an interesting cross-genre piece in which readers are given phone numbers and websites that they can actually call and visit as they read the book itself. But it has also caused a huge stink, both before and after publication, because it is one of the first in its genre to feature product placement in print for youth.

Motoko Rich's article from the New York Times last June explained that Proctor & Gamble, the parent company of Cover Girl, signed a marketing partnership with Running Press such that Cover Girl cosmetics would be featured in the novel's plotline in exchange for promotion of the book on BeingGirl.com. Sweet deal, eh? Well, until you think about questions of whether this blurs the lines between pleasure reading and marketing material more than is appropriate...

Running Press defended the book saying,

"It's always disappointing when people feel the appropriate response is to suggest that a book be banned, boycotted, or not read."

and I think that's totally valid, but I also think my freedom of speech entitles me to say I don't think a child's interest in reading should be exploited to sell product. Is the sanctity of reading for the sake of reading too much to take? Is this even still classified as reading or is it a great big ad? I don't know. And I have concerns of how this opens up the world of children's literature even more to marketing ploys. (I mean, we're already selling M&Ms to children learning math and Cheerios to babies learning to count.)

Annys Shin of the Washington Post does a nice job giving voice to both sides of the situation as well. It's a tough call, but it's not a product I can stand behind and I'm not very excited it's available for youth. What are we trying to do to young women?! Apparently they need a lot of stuff to be beautiful.

In response, the Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC) and CCFC organized an email campaign asking Running Press to remove advertising from the book. While the book is now available, you can still TAKE ACTION and write a letter of you want to share your thoughts with the publisher.