Georgia went to a sleep-under the other night. The benefits of a sleep-under are that she and her girlfriends get to play, get in PJs and watch a movie while the parents get to enjoy each others’ company, and no one has to deal with 1am separation anxiety or 6pm pancakes. The movie they watched was Arctic Tale, an environmental story of a polar bear family and a walrus family, and their harsh lives in the Arctic. I’d never seen the movie, but I trust the dad who chose it, and the girls seemed to like it, yelling at the screen when danger approached and cheering when the good animals won.

But Georgia’s take-away message?

“Daddy, did you know there is a car that uses some gas and some electricity.”

“A hybrid?” Hova suggested.

“Yeah, hybrid. Can we get a hybrid? It’s better for the earth and for the polar bears.” she lectured.

“It’s true that hybrid cars are better for the environment, but our car doesn’t use too much gas, and we’re careful to walk whenever we can, and I take the bus to work. Maybe when we need to get a new car we can get a hybrid.”

She went on, “Have you ever seen walrus guts? It’s really gross…”

How was it that the message she got was, “You need to buy a new car” instead of “drive less,” or “change your lifestyle?” I haven’t seen the movie, so I can’t tell if Toyota got some product placement (or concept placement), or if Georgia just caught onto one thing she felt she could do. But since I try to make consuming the last choice, it came as a surprise.

And lo, the next week information came home from school about a movie that exposes how kids are targeted through marketing — I knew I had to go. Consuming Kids: Commercializing Childhood “throws desperately needed light on the practices of a relentless multi-billion dollar marketing machine that now sells kids and their parents everything from junk food and violent video games to bogus educational products and the family car.” I’m always trying to fight the huge tentacles and power of marketing to kids, in my tiny Momster way, but this movie takes on the issue far more in depth than I could. I’ll be at a screening. Check for one in your town here.