Empty Calories - Commercializing Activities in America’s Schools - The Eighth-Annual Report on Schoolhouse Commercialism Trends 2004-2005

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jake

Empty Calories: Commercializing Activities in America’s Schools examines how corporate advertising and schoolhouse commercialism affect children, including rising public criticism about impacts on health. The report analyzes 5,929 media references collected from July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005 and organizes them into eight categories covering sponsorship, exclusive agreements, incentive programs, space appropriation, sponsored materials, electronic marketing, privatization, and fundraising. It also discusses supplementary coverage of children’s health and broader commercialism issues and notes methodological transitions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages57

Reading Time2 h 24 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

Media Reference Collection and Categories

Corporate Sponsorship of Programs and Activities

Exclusive Agreements

Incentive Programs

Appropriation of Space

Sponsored Education Materials

Electronic Marketing

Privatization

Fundraising

Supplementary Searches: Children’s Health and Commercialism

Methodology Transition and Overall Trends

| Empty Calories: Commercializing Activities in
America’s Schools
The Eighth-Annual Report on Schoolhouse Commercialism Trends: 2004-2005
By
Alex Molnar
Professor and Director
Arizona State University
David R. Garcia
Assistant Professor and Assistant Director Arizona State University
Commercialism in Education Research Unit (CERU)
Education Policy Studies Laboratory
College of Education
Division of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Box 872411
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ 85287-2411 | | | | --- | --- | --- | | EPSL | | November 2005
EDUCATION POLICY STUDIES LABORATORY
Commercialism in Education Research Unit
EPSL-0511-103-CERU
[http://edpolicylab.org](http://edpolicylab.org) | Education Policy Studies Laboratory Division of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies College of Education, Arizona State University P.O. Box 872411, Tempe, AZ 85287-2411 Telephone: (480) 965-1886 Fax: (480) 965-0303 E-mail: [epsl@asu.edu](epsl@asu.edu) [http://edpolicylab.org](http://edpolicylab.org) Empty Calories: Commercializing Activities in America’s Schools Alex Molnar Professor and Director Education Policy Studies Laboratory Arizona State University David R. Garcia Assistant Professor and Assistant Director Education Policy Studies Laboratory Arizona State University Executive Summary This year’s Schoolhouse Commercialism Trends report finds that schools continue to be a prime target of a wide variety of corporate advertising efforts and criticism of marketing to children in schools is mounting. Most of this criticism is directed at marketing activities that are thought to have a negative impact on children’s health. Public debate has led to government regulation and bans of commercial activity in some school districts; however, commercial interests show few serious signs of pulling back. From July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005, the Education Policy Studies Laboratory’s Commercialism in Education Research Unit at Arizona State University conducted media database searches in Education Index, Google News and Lexis-Nexis, and recorded a total of 5,929 media references related to schoolhouse commercialism. These references were grouped into eight categories and two supplementary searches (new to this year’s report), each of which is listed below and followed by its definition: • Corporate Sponsorship of Programs and Activities: Corporations paying for or subsidizing school events or one-time activities in return for the right to associate their name with the events and activities. For example, NBC, Campbell’s Soup, and Scholastic teamed up to promote NBC’s dramatic series “American Dreams” by sponsoring an essay contest—with a $100,000 scholarship as first prize—for high school students. • Exclusive Agreements: Agreements between schools and corporations that give corporations the exclusive right to sell and promote their goods or services in the school district—for example, exclusive pouring rights for Pepsi-Cola or Coca-Cola. • Incentive Programs: Corporate programs that provide money, goods, or services to a student, school, or school district when its students, parents, or staff engage in a specified activity—for example, Pizza Hut’s “Book It” program. • Appropriation of Space: The allocation of school space such as scoreboards, rooftops, bulletin boards, walls, and textbooks on which corporations may place corporate logos or advertising messages for a wide range of products, including soft drinks and snack foods. • Sponsored Education Materials: Materials supplied by corporations or trade associations that claim to have an instructional content, such as Starbucks Coffee’s “Ask, Listen, Learn: Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix.” • Electronic Marketing: The provision of electronic programming, equipment, or both in return for the right to advertise to students or their families and community members in the school or when they contact

FAQs

What central issue does the report address?

The report examines how corporate advertising efforts continue targeting schools and how debates and criticism—especially about potential negative effects on children’s health—have led to some regulations and bans without stopping commercial involvement.

How many media references were collected, and over what time period?

The Education Policy Studies Laboratory’s Commercialism in Education Research Unit recorded 5,929 media references from July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005.

Which eight categories are used to group the schoolhouse commercialism references?

The categories are corporate sponsorship, exclusive agreements, incentive programs, appropriation of space, sponsored education materials, electronic marketing, privatization, and fundraising.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jake