HOW YOUNG IS TOO YOUNG (EDITED/UPDATED AND AMENDED 12/7/2013) as well as 3/13, 3/14, 3/19, 4/20 , 5/15, 6/10, 6/12, 8/4, 8/6, 8/8 & 8/11/2014?

Introduction:
Gone are the days when it was considered taboo to market and/or target the very young with questionable products that should be left to be chosen by adults who so desire. However, with product marketers directly targeting very young adolescents of merely 7 or 8 years with products clearly that such young minds are not capable of fully comprehending either the long-term implications of or the short-term message being communicated to a society that has lost its moral “footing”, apparently everyone and anyone is "fair" game, however, for additional discussion of the moral state of our society see the posts THE CASE OF THE MISSING RECORDS (EDITED AND UPDATED W/INSERTS)! as well as ONE CASUALTY OF THE RECENT FINANCIAL CRISIS, TOO BIG TO FAIL (EDITED)!. This is a discussion about the open and apparently accepted practice in most circles (as a result of surveys that indicate 64% to 75% of households condone such practices); namely, targeting adult-type products to the very, very young in the name of increased revenue and in the hope of permanently influencing their young minds into a "big girl" actions type mindset.

Here are Some Developments to Consider:
The February 3, 2011 edition of that Daily/Weekend Business Street Publication (D1/2) featured an article entitled “It’s Just Lip Gloss, Mom.” This article points out that in order to get the young “hooked” on such products, the introduction begins with “flavored” lip gloss with a clear objective, namely a progression towards more and more of these adult-type products. That article pointed out that the Nations’ biggest retailer at the time of the article’s publishing was set to sell a line of products called geoGirl at introductory appealing prices in the $4 to $6 dollar range. Even that product brand was selected to convey a certain “adult” theme “implicitly” by its “small-to-Big” girl type mind set and furthermore reinforcing is the name itself "geo"' which implicitly conveys to 6, 7 and 8 year old immature adolescents, just out of their "toddler" years that they are only "grounded" by carrying out adult type actions. When such a message is impressed upon these young minds, what else can they be preparing for but exploitation, which 64% to 75% of parents and guardians are complicit with, to the detriment of these who are being "forced" to shed their innocence at younger and younger years for the whims and fancies of perverted types for the cause of being "GROUNDED", either because of parents and/or guardians who neglect their responsibilities or those callous types that willfully subject the very, very young lives entrusted to their care into this adult world to their demise as useful contributors in society (see the post THE STRANGE DEATH OF AN ICON (EDITED) as well as the THE MAKING OF A GENUINE HERO (EDITED AND UPDATED) for additional discussion included in these posts on this specific subject matter). 
However, It doesn’t stop there, the reinforcement continues by pointing out to these once considered "off limits" of society are lured via another “angle” used to appeal to the very, very young by the use of products with names closely related to activities popular among this generation of adolescents, such as texting abbreviations, for example: BCNU (for “be seeing you”) powder shadow, F2F (for “face to face”) moisture tint and SWAK (for “sent with a kiss”) lip treatment. Such marketers justify such obvious exploitation of these barely adolescent members of society by stressing that the products contain “natural ingredients” free of certain chemicals and cloaking this trend by pointing out that they are providing “skin care” for interested consumers with a corresponding use of a website to aid in this (re)education including parents, obviously with the intent of making sure that once "hooked", they stay "trapped" in this "adult-type" activities world.
As pointed out above, these product titles and marketing campaigns are not only aimed at “capturing” but also maintaining these very young consumers and this is implemented with very clever uses of:

1. innocent-sounding titles such as “Beauty for Cuties”,
2. a wide assortments of very colorful products,
3. packaging of perfumes to those still playing with dolls in “doll-like” containers
4. it's “all natural…”  (to wear such products when you are not old enough to understand the implications of your decision-making and image being portrayed) and of course
5. the use of all-the-above as "gateway products" to "assist" these very, very young into being "drawn" into the manipulative world of these marketers who don’t say that it’s not only “just lip gloss” but also “a little blush and mascara” etc.

Naturally, if the Nation(s) leading "retailer" gets into it, others (not wanting to be left out) follow suit, (with one notable exception, that consumer products giant P&G to its credit refused to tread into this questionable area, and has since been targeted, time alone will tell if outside pressure will eventually force this entity to lend credibility to this "murky" product area [see the post ONE CASUALTY OF THE RECENT FINANCIAL CRISIS - TOO BIG TO CHANGE (EDITED)]. However, on the other side, leading make-up manufacturers only too willing to get in on the action (for those honest enough to admit their very youthful audience peddling), pointing out that offering such products is not the problem, “making it taboo is the problem.” Just in case there was doubt about the obvious exploitation involved, it was pointed out that even in the dismal economy, this market was the “bright” spot for the beauty industry as their spending increased an average of 4% per year between 2007 and 2009 according to market research firm NPD Group Inc. The most disturbing part of this entire spectacle is that this research firm, which gathered the research data online, obtained it from approximately 1500 girls between the ages of 8 to 12. Additionally, the girls contacted for the data indicated that 64% of parents or guardians purchased the products for them, while 75% indicated that they were influenced in their purchases by parents and siblings. The article went on to point out that girls start using cosmetics as young as age 6 with harmless sounding introductory products with the obvious aim in the opinion of this Hobby Blogger of seducing them into even more beauty product uses and in the meantime, marketers are “working to take rebellion” out of make-up. The use of those specific words and existing conditions generally are very disturbing, in their application because, how can the "thrusting" of adult-type products/actions on 6-year old children be anything other than exploitative. Therefore, for marketers to be "pouring" resources into making abnormal acts involving very, very, very young gain acceptance, is an indication that some types with "interests" in man's oldest profession and with resources "a plenty" as "fictionally" documented in the post "HOW DO YOU GO FROM SMALL TOWN COUNTRY STORE TO BECOMING THE BIGGEST CORPORATION OF ITS TYPE IN THE WORLD - UPDATED?", are willing to invest funds in such a "business model" while failing to learn the lessons of that tragic adolescent from Boulder CO, whose end has sadly never been resolved. Some are of the opinion, that because so many years have passed and the memory of this tragedy has subsided, that it is time again to "pull back the curtain" to gain acceptability for a "business" model that has, PREDATOR, PEDOPHILE AND PIMP written all over it, sadly for these the most defenseless of our society, who have been entrusted to rather callous "parents/guardian", and/or others who found themselves in circumstances beyond their control as described in the The Potential Implications of this Trend section below. For the future life that such exploited will be forced to live under, (see Comment # 1 from 2/13/2014 on the COMMENTS 2014 Page for summary details about one such adolescent who suffered "in her own lyrics".

The potential Implications of this Trend:
One of the more telling aspects of this article is:

• how it is possible to ask over 1500, 8 to 12 year-olds such personal “body care” type questions online in the first place?

If our society is at the point where marketers can directly target such young potential “consumers” online without any parental or guardian involvement to advise about “who knows what?” to “who knows whom?” there is little wonder that the types of abuses of the very young read about missing and exploited victims, appear as “milk carton faces”. The Internet, while a very powerful tool that has lowered the cost of speech, is also an avenue for much abuse by "whatever works" types as previously noted on this Blog’s pages in typical posts such as “ELECTRONIC NETWORKING RECORDS FRAUD ON A SIGNIFICANT SCALE”.

• However, more telling is the implicit nod of approval from parents and guardians to enable such exploitations of the very, very young minds entrusted in their care to take place.

Without such an environment there would be zero market for the products and in the final analysis, parents and guardians have themselves to blame for this state of affairs that enables younger and younger members of our society to be targeted and by so doing lure them into lifetimes of questionable practices [compare this type of parent with the example documented in the post THE OUTSPOKEN PEN PAL, WHO BECAME A FRIEND (EDITED W/INSERTS - UPDATED/AMENDED)!].

• While the above description focuses on those who through neglect (implicitly) condone these practices, there are other more callous and/or sinister parents and guardians who willfully trade away the innocence of their very young to those perverted types with their questionable lifestyle choices, in exchange for personal elevation and/or fame, about, which a greater discussion on this subject matter is included in the posts THE STRANGE DEATH OF AN ICON (EDITED) in addition to THE MAKING OF A GENUINE HERO (EDITED AND UPDATED). 

These cases are NOT the only scenarios to be noted as exceptions to these do exist, which are unique circumstances that some who would never willingly condone such practices, find themselves "caught up" in, namely;

• circumstances that are way beyond their ability to control because of a single situation some were never prepared for, who are then victimized by those of the "free loaders cause" and their supporters and end up finding that the innocence of their loved ones have been traded away by self-serving and selfish types who "grabbed" the positions of power others who knew better shied away from that in turn turned the world of some with no desire for such a lifestyle "upside" down. Such are NOT willing participants, but are powerless to change anything about the cycle of vice that is involved in this "business" that engulfed them that was decided by a few "entitled" types who determined what was best for the many who found themselves gripped by this new world of the "shadowy consuming force".

As previously stated on the Pages of this Blog, in the Conclusion section of the post THE ONE THAT WAS OVERLOOKED, OR WAS IT - EDITED AND UPDATED, opportunities will be made available to "deserving" types and their connections (as appropriate) in the New Investment Organization in the hope that in this way the years spent wondering whether anyone "cared" about the circumstances of such an individual(s) will be overturned and become paths of renewal even if in a "small" but meaningful way.

Conclusion: 
The most likely outcome for those "hooked" by such products and lifestyles to, which they have been exposed is to make them ever more vulnerable to predators, pedophiles and pimps alike and more likely to be exploited by such types, who in turn are just waiting to prey on (the identities, skills, qualifications, histories and sphere of acquaintances of those known to such an individual and others) for the appearance of success to cover-up their lack of meaningful skills. Finally, it doesn't matter whether their exploiters wear three-piece suits (and sit on corporate boards, occupy other "dignified" dynastic positions of historical ancestral renown or wear leather jackets (and roam the streets), their end results are the same. Regardless of approach ALL such types exploit those they prey on and subject to lives of sordid living, who in turn attempt to victimize others in search of easily obtained credibility leading to a cycle between those exploited and the victimized. Where will it all end? Only ONE in reality knows because He  ALONE  knows the future! For follow-up in-depth discussion on this subject matter, see the post ONE CASUALTY OF THE RECENT FINANCIAL CRISIS, TOO BIG TO CHANGE (EDITED)!