Silently advertising to teens

This is advertising that in some case kids (or their parents) possibly unthinkingly pay to see. And - they're on an unlimited-text-messages - it's probably a good idea for everybody to be aware of. As the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reports in "Retailers know texting is the totally best way to reach teens," "sale alerts, fashion tips and sweepstakes giveaways" have definitely moved from email to cellphones. " JCPenney, surfer/skate shop Tilly's and Beall's department stores all text-messaged sale alerts and offered downloadable ring tones and cell phone games as part of their back-to-school promotions this year." The Times says that "just around the corner" are ad techniques like stores sending text-message special offers to their "club members" who pass by with GPS-enabled phones and store signs with bar codes that, when captured with a shopper's picture phone, provide full sale info on the phone by text or voice. On the other hand, MediaPost.com reports that US 12-to-17-year-olds "are not particularly receptive to mobile ads. In fact, the relative simplicity of their phones and the fact that nearly 70% of teens need their parents to pay the bill ... makes them poor campaign targets."