In my opinion, social marketing is the "new" buzz word for propaganda. The definition of propaganda is the systematic efforts to spread opinions or beliefs; any plan or method for spreading opinions or beliefs(World Book Dictionary...their sentence example is "The insurance companies engaged in health propaganda.") As I get older, I notice that organizations use new words for old ideas in order to make it more acceptable to people. Certainly, propaganda marketing would not do. It would not be a marketable idea. Opinions/beliefs shape our consumer decisions. Promoting ideas through cups, pens, notepads or yes--educational material is part and parcel of selling products. These are some of the ways companies can make money off an idea. Interestingly, some of the companies that make these items are part of our multi-national companies(pharmaceuticals, etc.). It is interesting to me that in order to remember an idea, we have to have a "thing," a "token." In my opinion, it shows how consumer-driven our society has become. I would like to believe that if an idea was a worthy idea that it would be remembered. I guess years ago people had better memories. Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html