Walmart to launch makeup, skincare for tweens as young as 8

Just when you thought marketers and corporate profit motive had sunk to its lowest.

Source

Of course, the ultimate responsibility lies with the parents, but really?!? Makeup marketed toward 8 year olds?!?

Forget Generation Y. Marketers are on to an even more valuable group: Generation Z. Eight to twelve year old girls represent a $2 billion market that is totes untapped.

Here is corporate talk for, we are greedy SOBs who couldn't care less about the welfare of your children.

The executive vice president behind the company, Joel Carden, believes that these eco-friendly products are perfect for grooming a “new beauty consumer.”

Maybe I'm being too harsh... but I don't think so.

the Billmeister

EDIT: thanks to Gemineye's post I forgot to mention that they will be selling some anti-aging products to this new market base as well!?!
Because, as we all know, dry skin and wrinkles are a huge concern for 8 to 10 year olds.

Remember, there are serious board meetings, with "intelligent" (?) individuals who come up with these ideas, vote on them, and decide that they are good, money-making opportunities!?!

"Who is the ad wizard who came up with this one?"

I saw this on the news a few days ago and thought WTH?

I have a 13 year old daughter who is still not allowed to wear makeup. Fortunately she doesn't want to yet, so it isn't a battle.

In an age where children are being potrayed more sexually than before, I find this ridiculous. Young girls are constantly bombarded with sexual images and uber skinny models. This is just one more way to suck our youth into thinking looks are everything.

While I do not begrudge the company turning a profit I do not agree with their marketing. Parents do make the final decision and just because it is sold doesn't mean it has to be bought.

It reminds me of that creepy Toddlers and Tiaras show...

Wow, now our generation will be looked at as the new Ancient Egyptians, wearing makeup at such a young age for no apparent reason. Well, wearing makeup for that matter.

(disregard anything to the left of this post)

This is disturbing. Kids at that age shoud NOT wear make up.

I remember when wearing lip gloss or eye shadow was a treat and something I could do on my own when I became an adult. The only make up I played with at 8 was Barbies make up I put on her. I guess that isn't enough for kids anymore. Kids want to grow up too fast it seems...That bothers me.

I don't know why ANYONE wears that gross paint and sticky crap on their face, but to each his (or her) own.

But you're right. It's parents' responsibility and no one else's.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
I don't know why ANYONE wears that gross paint and sticky crap on their face, but to each his (or her) own.

But you're right. It's parents' responsibility and no one else's.

I agree.

And, of course, in the free market society we have chosen, all bets are off when the potential for profit exists.

In reality, make-up has existed for thousands of years, and there is no "legal age requirement" to purchase it. It has, and will remain a question of consumer choice.

My beef is with the marketing angle.
Here in Canada, it is not permitted to market directly to children. We consider that, especially with modern marketing techniques, they could be too easily manipulated. (No hotweel's commercials during saturday morning cartoons, for example.)

In the case of cosmetics, part of the marketing is convincing the consumer that they "need" this product to be (or be more) beautiful, and I do not agree that this is a message we want to have specifically targeted to children.

Of course, this viewpoint is surely debatable, and that is why it is posted here on ATS.

the Billmeister

Apparently, Walmart isn't making enough money from Chinese imports...
Where do you think this new makeup will come from?

It's bad enough that media glorifies children at an entirely too young of age.
Now this gives more reason for people to exploit children even more.
Make-up, in modern times, is for purely for vanity...nothing else.
So when your society is based on how pretty you are...
Or how pretty you can try to make yourself look...
There's going to be exploitation and money to be made.

Yes, its truly disgusting what children are subject to...
The greed of their parents, the sexuality of the media, the marketing of big business.

But one has to ask oneself...
Why would I let my children be raised by media? Or Television?
"I" should be influencing my child, NOT A TV!

Good parenting involves discipline.
Most of which I see being thrown away, and replaced with spoiledness.


Just my opinion, nothing else.

Oh dear lord and they wonder why child molestation is on the rise.

Relax, they probably just discovered a new, made in China, product that they can utilize to poison our children while getting richer at the same time.

There's the moral issues and then there's;

Remember the Cadmium in children' jewelry or the Melamine in baby formula?
www.usatoday.com...
www.usatoday.com...

There's no telling what will be in this stuff and I wouldn't let my kids put it on their dolls.

IMO, "Made In China" translates to "Poisonous and/or Inferior Products Enclosed."

reply to post by Billmeister


I started wearing make-up, behind my parents' backs, in jr.high.
One day I forgot to wash it off before my dad came home from work.
To make a long story short,I didn't wear make-up to school after that.
My dad didn't like the gold lipstick he caught me wearing,I was 13.

Now,I am 56 and I wore more make-up as a kid then as an adult.
Kids' shouldn't wear make-up,they don't need it!

If there isn't a market it will flop and be pulled...but sadly there is a market and many parents are quite happy to purchase these things for their kids, extremely sad but when you have a society that is a cultural and moral cesspool these things are inevitable.

reply to post by Billmeister


This has actually been going on for as long as I can remember. Granted, it's kid makeup... the kind you find in the toy sections of stores, but what most people don't know is that the ingredients that go into that "toy makeup" aren't regulated like those that go into regular "adult" makeup. Basically, the manufacturers of this makeup are allowed to throw all kinds of crap in there... the cheapest of the cheap ingredients and don't have a problem with kids putting it on their faces. Obviously, some of it gets ingested. It's crazy! I read this in a magazine and I don't remember which one. If I did, I'd post a link to the info.

I'm sure many of the ingredients in adult makeup aren't exactly safe so I hate to think of what's in toy makeup. I guess this line that Walmart will be marketing may have higher standards than the toy stuff since it's an actual cosmetic line, but I still think it's ridiculous. I guess they know kids want to grow up fast, so this is just another way to line their pockets. My 8 year old is mad at me right now because I wont let her dye her hair. She says, "but mom... my friends' moms let them dye their hair!" And of course I come back with, "I'm not your friends' momma!" People should just let kids be kids!!!

I love makeup, myself. I'm actually an aspiring makeup artist, but I read labels like crazy! Wont use anything with parabens, oxybenzone, talc, mineral oil, anything tested on animals and there's many other standards I go by. Most people have no idea what's in that stuff and most just don't care.

EDIT:

Ok, I just realized this line will be offering anti-aging products for kids!!! W T F ???

Originally posted by gemineye
reply to post by Billmeister

 

what most people don't know is that the ingredients that go into that "toy makeup" aren't regulated like those that go into regular "adult" makeup.
EDIT:

Ok, I just realized this line will be offering anti-aging products for kids!!! W T F ???

edit on 2/11/2011 by gemineye because: (no reason given)

Thanks, I did not know about the regulating of ingredients either.

And yes, I forgot to mention it in my OP (will edit in now) about the anti-aging products. I guess they are trying to program their future consumers now to ensure a stable customer base in the future!?!

the Billmeister