Date: 12-19-2007
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) has demanded Webkinz World to "stop targeting its users with outside advertising." Webkinz are plush animal toys that contain access codes through which kids can log on to Webkinz World, a social networking site for kids with stuffed animals acting as avatars. Webkinz World has promoted itself as being ad-free. However, in October, the site began running movie ads for Bee Movie and later for Alvin and the Chipmunks. CCFC received numerous parent complaints and launched a letter-writing campaign urging Webkinz to immediately end all advertising on the site. "One of the reasons parents purchase Webkinz is the expectation that the website will be free of advertising," said Susan Linn, CCFC's director and a psychologist at Judge Baker Children's Center. Webkinz dolls were introduced by a Toronto-based private company called Ganz in 2005.
