Last Thursday, Hillary Clinton visited Washington to decry marketing campaigns aimed at children. Specifically, she criticized the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. for producing citrus, berry and toffee flavored cigarettes, which she feels are intended to attract teens. Spokesman Fred McConnell assured her that his company only markets to adults. Why, just the other day I was dying for a cigarette that tastes like a Jolly Rancher! The Senator fears that the next step in advertising is to implant a microchip directly into kids’ brains. To date, that scary science has only been used for medical purposes but commercial uses are being explored. So, just to be safe, Clinton has co-sponsored a bill to study the effects of marketing and advertising on children. She points out that the ways in which our material world affects young people are unknown. Actually, the topic has been much studied by scholars like Juliet B. Schor in her book, Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture. Sounds like Senator Clinton might’ve fallen asleep while watching The Manchurian Candidate and smoking, err, something.