Marketing marvel

Imagine this.
Your child sees a CD-Rom encyclopedia in the shops. It costs only $28. The nagging starts. So you buy it. Right? Wrong.
It might present a world of information at your fingertips. It might be a wonderful interactive learning tool and homework help. But this week the electricity's due, or you've already bought books at the book club at school or you know you'll pay later if you give in to nagging even this once.
And yet just about every parent I know diligently collected the coupons out of the Courier-Mail every day for 14 days. They raided the money box for $2 coins. They went to the newsagent every day for 14 days - and if their newsagent was out of stock they drove around town until they found one that wasn't. Parents in schoolyards compared notes on which newsagents had the best stock. The sandwich boards outside news agencies advertised that the discs were available.
This was marketing at its best. A demand was created that never existed before and we all fell over each other to get in on the act.
In a way it's hard to argue against it. A volume of an interactive encyclopedia for the same price as a Macca's toy - that has to be a worthwhile investment.
There's winners all round. Sales of the Courier-Mail boom, newsagents must benefit from the increased traffic and families get a bargain-basement priced reference set.
And now like just about every other family in Brisbane, I have a 14 volume interactive reference set which I suspect is destined to go the way of the World Book before it. Sitting on the shelf, barely used and rapidly going out of date. No home should be without one.

Get with the program

The dictionary tells us that a program is "a list of items, pieces, performers, etc., in a musical, theatrical, or other entertainment; playbill". That may purpose the theatre program seeks to fulfill but it doesn't even start to describe what the average program has become. They are quite simply pieces of publishing art - full colour, full gloss, often embossed beautiful things with a price tag to match. It's hard not to be drawn to them and to find yourself handing over the folding stuff to own one.
You take it home - and never look at it again.
What you actually need "is a list of items, pieces, performers, etc., in a musical, theatrical, or other entertainment; playbill". What you really need is a single photocopied sheet with the vital pieces of information about the production you are about to see.
Of course no-one is forcing you to buy the program. The problem is that the often prohibitive price of those gloss documents is another barrier to the average family being able to afford the live theatre experience. You fork out for the ticket and that's just the start of it. The parking, the program, the interval snacks and don't start me on merchandise.
When it comes to the program the solution is obvious - let's have a dual system. You can buy the gloss document if you want a souvenir but have a cheap alternative for those who just require the production details.

What's good "family entertainment"?

My interest was aroused when I heard the new all-singing, all dancing Australian musical Sideshow Alley the Musical described as "a great one for all the family". This is the same musical which on it own ticketing information warns of coarse language and adult themes. So was the reviewer wrong. In my view yes - and no.

There is no one size fits all family so there can be no one size fits all appropriate family entertainment. A large part of our job as parents is to define our values and set appropriate boundaries for our kids. No censor, no classification system is a substitute for vigilant parenting.

The problem is that terms such as "coarse language" and "adult themes" really do little to inform. Indeed I've seen students wearing T shirts carrying the same slogan. Live theatre isn't required to be classified and no lover of the arts would suggest that it should be.

So, would I recommend the production to families? Well let's spell out the adult themes I am not yet ready to explain to my nine-year-old. Anal rape, adultery and suicide top the list. And the "adult themes" I would be prepared to take on - intolerance, homophobia and racism.

The coarse language doesn't need to be spelt out except to say that a four-letter word starting with F features a lot.

This is a truly remarkable production full of energy, imagination and sparkle. Is it family entertainment? Well that depends on the family involved. Many of the adult themes are implied rather than spelt out and it is possible many a child could see the show and love it for the colour and spectacle - not to mention the bearded lady and other sideshow freaks. Problem is that children "get" a lot more than we often give them credit for and it's not a risk I'd take.

Brisbane is full of exciting entertainment possibilities for families with children. We'll sit this one out