How Target is Infiltrating Public Schools to Build Customers for Life

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/education/how-target-infiltrating-public-schools-build-customers-life




I am the teacher-librarian in one of two San Francisco school libraries remodeled by the big-box chain Target, in partnership with the Heart of America Foundation (HOA). HOA, which coordinates corporate volunteer programs focused on literacy, provides a few different options, including the one Target picked: the READesign® Library Makeover Program. On its website, HOA promises to handle all the details for the sponsoring partner, making the experience simple but meaningful: “As soon as we know your desired market, we do the rest.”

About 200 schools across the country have received a Target Library Makeover since 2007 and, judging by the photos available online, the libraries all look similar to the one at my school. Like those other libraries, The Story of Wal-Mart , The Story of Starbucks , and The Story of McDonald’s are shelved with the nonfiction as part of the donated corporate-themed Built for Success series for children. Our bright, cheery elementary school library does not have red and white bulls-eyes on the walls, however, unlike the Target-sponsored libraries I saw online. A visitor might not guess Target had anything to do with the remodeling, though the painted stripes on one wall look slightly big-box store-ish, if you ask me. The lack of Target logos in our library is no oversight; it is the result of tough battles fought at the district administrative level and a school district with an unusually firm anti-branding policy.

Not that the students weren’t branded.

On the second day of school that fall, as the Target School Library Makeover began, two famous NASCAR drivers arrived at my school with their Target-sponsored race car, fully covered in red and white bulls-eyes. A “reading assembly” was held for the entire school on the play yard (a customized kickoff event is one of the options HOA offers its corporate partners as part of the makeover program). The NASCAR celebrities read a picture book to the students and then posed for pictures with each class in front of the race car. Some school district administrators attended this assembly, along with a sea of red-shirted Target employee volunteers. The district official with the challenging job of upholding the anti-branding policy was also there, and he told us to flip over the 250 red Target stadium cushions for the children so that the bulls-eye logo faced down. It was a valiant effort but, in the midst of the red tents, the race car, the banners, the stage, and the many red Target shirts, having the cushions face down (for the few minutes they remained so) felt inconsequential.

[littlemissmartypants]

1. Very good read. Thanks. eom

[dembotoz]

2. on the other hand, my wife is pondering a job offer to teach sp ed in an urban school

she is an experienced teacher so she knows what she is looking at.

what has struck her is the complete lack of resources available.

the question would be--is a Target library better than NO library at all.

I have no doubt that she would create her own resources--she always does--but at times it is like

working in a restaurant and everday the cook has to buy the food he will serve from his own wallet

You may be offended by the logos but i would applaud Target for at least doing something.

[el_bryanto]

3. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

When a company tries to be good neighbors and citizens they are slammed for doing it in a corporate way.

Bryant

[bvf]

6. "in a corporate way"

doesn't have to involve turning a public school library's decor into a permanent commercial.

I'd like to think there are numerous companies who contribute to literacy education and somehow manage to forgo the heavy-handed tactics pursued by Target in the current instance.

Corporate social responsibility should not be handled by a corporation's marketing arm, IMO.

[el_bryanto]

7. I don't find the tactics heavy handed

Reading the article, I read about a teacher who felt like her toes were stepped on and she didn't like it so she tried to write the article as sinisterly as she could. But she admits there's no corporate branding in her library. That Target hosted a few events but the bulk of the donations were not labeled as from Target.

More to the point any corporate donation has to be justifies - if they are going to donate money it has to at least appear to give some benefit to the corporate shareholders.

Bryant

[bvf]

9. She does not "admit"

but rather takes pains to point out that there is no corporate branding in the library. She clearly stated that this outcome was a result of strong argument by those admins charged with enforcing the district's anti-branding policy. It isn't said how strongly Target pushed--I'll give you that much.

And just how can you infer how the author felt?

Finally, to say that any corporate donation has to be justified to its shareholders, what's wrong with just giving the money, putting out a nice press release, and letting intelligent people figure it out from there?

[bvf]

4. Good read, thanks.

This was pretty heavy-handed of Target. Congrats to the district administration officials who saw to it that your library wasn't plastered with Target logos. That hopefully minimized the ongoing damage.

I want to have a look at this Heart of America Foundation, though. You'd think they'd be a natural clearinghouse for public school anti-branding policy, given their supposed mission.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

5. following the Apple model, i see

Nothing new to see hear. Coke did it too...

[bvf]

8. This has been going on forever, yes.

Well, at least since the eighties. I regret that I never followed the whole "Channel One" controversy of many years ago, but I wouldn't be surprised if the HOA had some roots in it.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

10. our high school put in some of the first Apple computers in the state

in our 'business lab' and several years later Channel One came a callin'... have always been disturbed by the commercialism promulgated in the schools. The first example I recall was the Coca~Cola scoreboard.

sP

[dilby]

11. Nothing is for free in life, you don't want branding in your school

Then don't take the money. It's real simple, Nike wants to remodel your athletic facility, Target wants to remodel your library, Apple wants remodel your computer lab and Yum! wants to remodel your cafeteria, all of them want their products in front of children. Schools are greedy and just see the free money and then complain when they realize they sold themselves out. Seriously what were they thinking that they were going to get something for free because corporations care about anything other than making money?