Ypulse Essentials: Marketing To Tech-Savvy Kids, Gen Y's Favorite Fast Food, Muppet Music

As kids today are increasingly tech-savvy (marketers must reach them in creative and complex ways. Often this is through online games with virtual worlds, social media campaigns, and in-store attractions, but are kids being bombarded too much by advertising? Speaking of technology, incoming college freshmen value brands like Nike, Xbox, Apple, and Blackberry because they’re high tech, cool, and help consumers connect with their friends) (USA Today) (Forbes)

- Move over McDonald’s! (Generation Y reveals their fast food preferences, and Chipotle, Wendy’s, and Burger King top the list. According to research from L.E.K. Consulting, 16-24 year olds value their friends’ opinions about restaurants; 40% of this age group reports that their meal or snack choices are influenced by their friends. We expect this to continue, especially as Foursquare just launched a tip list) (NY Daily News) (MSNBC) (Mashable)

- We’ve been having fun all day listening to ‘The Green Album’ (with bands like OK Go, The Alkaline Trio, and Weezer reprising all the classic tunes from “The Muppet Show.” This album may be as much of a cultural touchstone for Millennials as “The White Album” is for Boomers. Give it a listen, but fair warning…you’re gonna end up with “Mahna Mahna” stuck in your head!) (NPR)

- PBS Kids launched ‘Little Pim Spanish’ (its first Spanish-language iPad app, which helps children learn vocabulary via games with help from the same panda that appears in the DVD version. Speaking of interesting apps, Amazon has a new iPhone app that makes buying and selling college textbooks even easier. Students can access a barcode scanner and price comparison database via their smartphone to find the lowest price) (Kidscreen) (ReadWriteWeb)

- Peter Pan gets a modern spin (in Alloy Entertainment’s upcoming Web series aptly titled “Wendy.” The online series — sponsored by Macy’s mStyleLab, which supplies the fashion for the show — is a contemporary love story featuring teen star Tyler Blackburn as Pete, a musician in the band “The Lost Boys,” and Meaghan Martin as Wendy. We’re even more excited for the series after seeing the music video where Tyler sings! Speaking of shows we’re eager to see, “The Lying Game” — based on the book series by Sara Shepard — premieres tonight on ABC Family!) (Variety, reg. required) (YouTube) (Teen)

- We’re curious about Tyra Banks’ book ‘Modelland’ (a fantasy story about a magical place where models are the only famous people around. Take a look at a sample chapter here!) (Barnes & Noble)