iPad Tops Disney, Nickelodeon, McDonalds As Most Popular Brand Among Kids

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
The kids have spoken: Apple’s iPad is now a more popular brand among children than McDonalds, Disney, Toys R Us or Nickelodeon, according to an annual brand popularity survey from family research firm Smarty Pants.
Smarty Pants conducted an online survey of US households containing youngsters between the ages of six and 12, and had those kids evaluate 256 consumer brands across more than 20 categories. More than 6,600 children and their parents took part in the three-month survey, and the results were tabulated into scores measuring overall brand awareness, love and popularity on a scale of 0 to 1,000, the research firm explained.
iPad was No. 1 with a score of 898, followed by Hershey’s with a score of 894 and Oreo at 885. Rounding out the top 10 were M&M’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Skittles, Disney, YouTube and Xbox. Nickelodeon was tied for 12th with a score of 846, while McDonalds was 15th with an 839 score and Toys R Us was 24th with a score of 830.
“iPad’s number one status among kids represents the culmination of the ‘tablet takeover’ – a movement from shared screens and TV network dominance to curated content on personal devices,” Smarty Pants president Wynne Tyree explained in a statement. “Kids increasingly turn to iPad for games, TV shows, videos, books, homework help and communicating with friends and family.”
The company explained that kids have begun to view the iPad as an all-in-one digital device, which allows them to watch videos, play games and surf the Internet anywhere they want to. They also consider the tablet as a personal device, which means they don’t have to worry about sharing it with siblings.
Tyree said that the Apple tablet’s rise to the top of the list has been sudden and dramatic. Five years ago, it ranked 109th on the list, he said, and while it “captured the hearts of tweens and middle and upper class families” almost instantly, it recently has become “an indispensable part of childhood for the masses.”
It should come as no surprise given the iPad’s rising popularity that other forms of digital entertainment and content providers would also receive a boost, and according to Todd Spangler of the Boston Herald, brands such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant Video, Android and Samsung Electronics all experienced “notable increases” in their rankings among kids as well.
According to CNET’s Chris Matyszczyk, a similar survey of mothers found that the iPad ranked far lower – coming in at No. 30 on the list. Crayola topped their list, followed by Hershey’s, M&Ms, and Oreos. Among 6- to 12-year-olds, Crayola ranked 14th in brand awareness and popularity, edging out McDonalds with a score of 842.
Other noteworthy products that cracked the top 25 include Lay’s potato chips (11th, 847); Kit Kat (t-12th, 846); Nintendo Wii (16th, 838); Reese’s (t-17th, 836), Chips Ahoy (t-17th, 836), iPod (19th, 836); Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (20th, 834) and Popsicle (21st, 833). LEGOs were tied with Pop Tarts for 27th place (826), while Disney’s Frozen was 30th (820), Sony’s PlayStation was 33rd (819) and Cartoon Network came in 34th (818).
Shop Amazon – Kindle Fire HDX – A Powerhouse Tablet Built for Work and Play
—–