Happy, healthy families don't just happen. Instead, they are created through hard work and a commitment to learning and applying healthier ways of living. Last week we pointed out one way to develop healthier families was by developing healthy family TV habits and watching programs together. Family movie nights have been a longstanding tradition in our home and with two teenagers, we take them whenever we can get them. I recently saw an NBC movie promotion that caught my interest. Last weekend when our family went to the theater to see "How to Train Your Dragon" (another good family movie by the way), we saw the promo trailer for "Secrets of the Mountain." The trailer portraits the feature as a family adventure movie in the same sentiment as "National Treasure" and looks like it is right up our alley. In a tough economic market, advertisers have to be cautious and make sure they are getting the most for their advertising dollar. It seems top advertisers like Proctor and Gamble are aware of this and working to focus their dollars to their market consumer. Some of my favorite ads during the Winter Olympics were the P & G Thank You, Mom commercials. I suppose this was the desired response since I am their target audience, a mom in her mid-40s that is the primary shopper in the home. Research shows that only 23 percent of American parents find satisfaction with what they find on TV today. The made-for-TV movie, Secrets of the Mountain has been created by the advertising powerhouses Wal-Mart and Proctor and Gamble to provide a "family-friendly" TV alternative. According to a February Wall Street Journal article, this is part of an overall strategy by both companies to target advertisement and product placement opportunities while also meeting a need in TV programming. I do find it interesting that NBC is the network that picked up the project but am glad they did. Certainly these companies know my generation grew up with the regular CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame features. Of course they know we insisted on Reese's Pieces as children because we saw them in "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" instead of M&M's. Regardless of the business reasons, advertising and product placement, I am thrilled to see a focus on family friendly TV again. Unfortunately, my family will be away from home this Friday evening April 16. at 8 P.M. to watch our daughter perform in her school play. However, our DVR will be set and we will enjoy this family-friendly adventure later in the weekend because the message could not be better than "when times are tough, families don't run away from problems, they run back to each other." What do you think of this TV concept? Do you consider this a healthy TV option? |
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