Marketing To Toddlers

Recently we have branched out of the TV channels we allow Payton to watch.  Nick Jr. is still at the top of the list.  The problem is that I can now recognize the shows and the plot and calculate that we have seen that certain episode x number of times.  Therefore, I decided to branch out a little.  We currently have a channel called Sprout.  I happen to come about it when I was searching for something other than Dora for Payton to watch one Saturday morning as I was preparing breakfast.  Sprout has a pretty good array of child friendly shows.  I am currently recording Super Why.  I love this show because it is all about reading, phonics, and finishing the story.  The problem with Sprout is that they show commercials.  Not a ton, but commercials none the less.

Payton has had this item ever since she was a baby.

It is not a Dreamlight, but close enough.  One night as we finished reading her bed time stories, she informed me she wanted her Dreamlight.  I obeyed and let her select the color she wanted.  Then in all seriousness, she looked at me and said, "I love my dreamlight because it automatically shuts off after twenty minutes."

I was floored because I had no clue how long it actually stayed on or that my child had a concept of time.  I was starting to feel overwhelming pride that Payton was some sort of genius.  Without any help from me, she had learned how to calculate time and knew how long twenty minutes was.  Then it hit me.  She was quoting the Dreamlight commercial that she heard on Sprout.

Oh well, she may not be some time calculating genius at three and a half, but Dreamlights' marketing department hit a home run with my child with the automatic timer.