From a press release put out by the Girl Scouts USA, proudly announcing their partnership with MTV:
This partnership showcases GSUSA’s goal to build our brand relevance among the teen audience, and to communicate to potential young volunteers that Girl Scouts is the place to give back. These tools support our diverse and contemporary image.
After some more looking around, I found a link between one of MTV's reality tv shows, "Run's House" and Girl Scouts. Apparently the daughters of Reverend Run join the Scouts. Reverend Run is rapper Run-DMC and was ordained by Zoe Ministries, which from my admittedly quick look appears to espouse a combination of liberation theology and promise of financial blessings from God. (I think that's sometimes known as "name it and claim it.") I could not find a statement of faith but did see lots of opportunities to donate money.
Gotta wonder about a reverend who is associated with a TV network that carries such shows as "A Shot at Love 2 with Tila Tequila" which appears to chronicle a young woman's efforts to find a new lover - male or female. The clips I saw would be, I think, R-rated if not X.
So, anyway, the real story on this partnership seems to be: money. Are you surprised?
3 comments:
"brand relevance among the teen audience"? So, Girl Scouts is a brand, now? I wonder how many Scouting parents still think GS is a civic organization. We opted not to pursue GS when I saw that one of the badges you could earn was 'petrolium'. Maybe that's changed, but I got the message.
Do you think that Christianity is not a brand? If you can market it, it's a brand. I think that the GS/MTV might actually benefit the Girl Scouts. As times change, I can only imagine that enrollments in the program become a bit more slim — a touch of pop commercialism might be what they need to boost memberships. Just a thought — not necessarily an opinion.
Do you think that Christianity is not a brand?
Oh absolutely. But some of us are not proud of that.
Of course you know I hate capitulating to the pop culture. If it takes a partnership with MTV to keep GSUSA alive... maybe it's better off dead, because it's not meaningful as a service organization anymore, but becomes a cool place for girls to talk about clothes and makeup and boost their self-esteem.
But I am showing my age, eh? :-)
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