Uploaded August 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
For marketers who wish to reach the lucrative youth market, the relatively uncluttered medium of the school environment represents the final frontier -- access to a captive audience of millions of students. Meanwhile dwindling federal, state, and local funding for education has left many schools vulnerable to the advertiser's pitch. As a result, commercialism has steadily increased in America's public schools in recent years, often with little or no public awareness.
Watch the full documentary on Films For Action: filmsforaction.org/watch/captive-audience
License the film for classroom use: shop.mediaed.org/captive-audience-p76.aspx?utm_campaign=filmsforaction
Captive Audience examines this growing phenomenon through numerous examples of in-school advertising; interviews with teachers, students, parents, and activists; and a case study of community action to oppose an exclusive soda contract in the Pittsburgh school district. Media scholars and critics -- including Alex Molnar, Professor of Education Policy, Arizona State University; Henry Giroux, Professor in Secondary Education, Pennsylvania State University; No Logo author Naomi Klein; and Bill Hoynes, Professor and Chair of Sociology, Vassar College -- offer a broad look at the issues at stake.
Captive Audience is a compelling expose of the transformation of classrooms, hallways, cafeterias, and textbooks into advertising vehicles. It explores how education is short-changed and democracy is at risk when schools become marketplaces and commercialism goes to the head of the class.
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Explore the films: filmsforaction.org/library/?sort=rating&category=patron%20films&quality=best&type=evergreen
For marketers who wish to reach the lucrative youth market, the relatively uncluttered medium of the school environment represents the final frontier -- access to a captive audience of millions of students. Meanwhile dwindling federal, state, and local funding for education has left many schools vulnerable to the advertiser's pitch. As a result, commercialism has steadily increased in America's public schools in recent years, often with little or no public awareness.
Watch the full documentary on Films For Action: filmsforaction.org/watch/captive-audience
License the film for classroom use: shop.mediaed.org/captive-audience-p76.aspx?utm_campaign=filmsforaction
Captive Audience examines this growing phenomenon through numerous examples of in-school advertising; interviews with teachers, students, parents, and activists; and a case study of community action to oppose an exclusive soda contract in the Pittsburgh school district. Media scholars and critics -- including Alex Molnar, Professor of Education Policy, Arizona State University; Henry Giroux, Professor in Secondary Education, Pennsylvania State University; No Logo author Naomi Klein; and Bill Hoynes, Professor and Chair of Sociology, Vassar College -- offer a broad look at the issues at stake.
Captive Audience is a compelling expose of the transformation of classrooms, hallways, cafeterias, and textbooks into advertising vehicles. It explores how education is short-changed and democracy is at risk when schools become marketplaces and commercialism goes to the head of the class.
--
If you're passionate about thought-provoking documentaries and want to support Films For Action in the process, consider becoming a Patron. For $5 a month, you'll gain access to over 50 of our favorite paradigm-shifting documentaries while keeping us ad-free and financially independent.
Subscribe here: filmsforaction.org/subscribe
Explore the films: filmsforaction.org/library/?sort=rating&category=patron%20films&quality=best&type=evergreen
