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Is Netflix Content 'Good Enough'?

4/23/2022

11 Comments

 
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by David Hagenbuch - professor of Marketing at Messiah University -
​author of 
Honorable Influence - founder of Mindful Marketing 

How old were you when you made your first solo shopping trip?  If you’re a Boomer, Gen X, or Gen Z, your answer might be 8, 12, or even 18.  Japanese youth apparently run errands much earlier—as in age two—to the amazement of many Americans who are now streaming the cultural curiosity.  Whether toddlers should be by themselves on road-trips is a worthy question, as is why people a half-world away are watching a decade-old television show.
 
From ‘Stanger Things,’ to ‘Bridgrton,’ to ‘Squid Game,’ tastes for Netflix series change like the seasons.  Now, one of the streaming giant’s popular properties is an unlikely reality series that comes courtesy of East Asia and the 1990s.
 
‘Old Enough!’ is a documentary-style television program in which Japanese parents send their toddlers on their first independent errands.  Camera crews capture the highly cute and often humorous action, while witty narration added in editing gives viewers a window into what the tots may have been thinking at the time of their adventures.
 
In light of today’s often hovering helicopter parents, it’s refreshing to see young people given real responsibilities and freedom to act independently.  However, it’s also kind of unnerving to watch a kid, who’s still wearing diapers, wander by himself more than a half mile to a grocery store to pick up ingredients for dinner.
 

In terms of social skills, these parents are placing their children far ahead on the developmental curve.  Given what these kids are doing under age four, there’s no telling what they’ll be capable of by the time they’re 10 or 20 . . . if they live that long!
 
In terms of safety, there’s likely little danger to the children.  Camera crews are filming them the entire time, so in some sense they’re safer during shooting than they may be any other day.  However, no camera operator could intervene in time if a three-year-old suddenly skipped off the sidewalk, into the path of a moving vehicle.
 
Another issue to consider any time children are placed in media roles is informed consent.  How can a child under the age of five possibly understand what they’re doing: the risks they’re incurring at the time and the implications their ‘celebrity’ may bring in the future?  Most fathers and mothers pursue their children’s best interest; yet there are always unfortunate cases in which parents become blinded by their offspring’s potential popularity and prosperity and intentionally place them in harm’s way.
 
This potential may be even more of a concern in today’s social media infatuated society.  Now any parent with a smartphone can capture their child doing ‘something special’ and broadcast the clips or stills to anyone in the world. 
 
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All the above are real moral concerns; however, it’s hard to paint ‘Old Enough!’ as irresponsible entertainment.  Most parents who aggressively promote and profit from their children probably have never seen the show.  Also, given the series’ longevity and apparent track record of ‘safe success,’ the show seems like acceptable diversion.
 
So, back to the second question posed at the outset of this piece:  Why have so many Americans suddenly been smitten by a decade-old Japanese documentary featuring toddlers running errands?  ‘Seinfeld’s George Costanza’s gave a reason for watching ‘a show about nothing’ that may help answer the question: “because it’s on TV.”
 
Of course, there’s sarcasm in that answer, but there’s also truth.  Although the increasingly competitive streaming market is saturated with shows, after spending 18 months or more homebound in a pandemic, many people feel they’ve already seen everything worth watching on Netflix, which has left the company scrambling for new content—scouring space and time for entertainment that will keep people from unsubscribing.
 
Speaking of subscriptions, during the first quarter of 2022, Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers and even more staggering, it expects to lose 2 million more by July—an announcement that has precipitated a decline in the company’s stock price of more than 30%.
 
During video rental era and in the early years of streaming, competitors had largely the same video libraries, so cost and convenience were key to attracting customers.  Now content is the most important differentiator, as evidenced by the rapid rise of relatively new competitor Disney+, which has ridden the popularity of proprietary shows like ‘The Mandalorian,’ ‘The Beatles: Get Back,’ and a long list of Disney movies.
 
Netflix needs original content.  Over the past five-to-seven years, it’s certainly had success creating content, but subscribers burned through that content with a flurry of pandemic-prompted binge-watching.  Creating compelling original content takes considerable time, money, and expertise, but even then, there are no guarantees it will be well-received.
 
These reasons are likely why Netflix acquired the streaming rights for ‘Old Enough!’—a show the company could make available immediately to a subscriber base that, by and large, had never seen it, but would find it at least a little entertaining, since reality TV still resonates and people like cute kids.
 
Netflix also probably didn’t overpay for those rights.  True to the show’s name, the 20 episodes now on Netflix were produced in 2013,  nearly a decade ago, giving ‘Old Enough!’ a double meaning and likely meaning that the series was a bargain.  Unfortunately, inexpensive does not necessarily mean good.
 
My wife and I are not representative of all Netflix subscribers, but after watching three episodes of the grocery-toting toddlers, we had our fill.  The children were cute, and the scenarios were kind of funny, but reading the subtitles made the entertainment feel a little like work.  Even though a fourth episode promised a different kid in a unique situation, it didn’t seem like we’d really see anything new.
 
Perhaps ‘Old Enough!’ has outperformed Netflix executives’ expectations.  Still, the show can’t be more than a bandage on the company’s expanding wound of subscriber attrition, which will only be healed by a more drastic strategic prescription.
 
Interestingly, Netflix is now looking to incorporate advertising.  Such sponsorships could help contain, if not lower, the cost of the platform; however, people won’t stay subscribed just because rates don’t rise, any more than they'll watch shows ‘just because they’re on TV.’  Subscribers of any streaming service must believe there’s enough new, engaging content to warrant whatever amount they’re paying.
 
There are no serious moral concerns over a show about toddlers ‘doing nothing,’ but there’s also little economic upside for a streaming giant that desperately needs more compelling original content.  For these reasons, Netflix’s ‘Old Enough!’ is good enough to be “Simple-Minded Marketing.”


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11 Comments
Joe Cornett
4/24/2022 08:26:52 pm

I found the article a little interesting. I have not seen the show mentioned in the reading and I doubt that I will. This kind of highlights the point brought up in the article that Netflix doesn't have the interesting content that it used to. It is not as innovative and its competitors are starting to outshine it. I tend to find myself going to Netflix of all the streaming services I own just because of the name and the expectation in the back of the mind that they have what I want to watch. I end up leaving most of the time without having watched anything.
One other observation that I have, and might be different than most people's, but I prefer to watch Netflix with other people. This kind of reduces the usefulness of the app, or at least having every person subscribed. For example, my family has one account, and I am one of the few in my friend group that has my own account, and we just watch stuff on my account. I think that Netflix is still one of the bigger streaming services, but it is becoming easier to bypass and get around their subscription requirements. This is hurting them, but what it really killing them is the lack of content, because eventually no one will even try to get around the subscription requirement.

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Derek Heisey
4/25/2022 08:56:11 pm

This concept of Japanese parents allowing their toddlers to do errands blows my mind. I'm surprised the toddlers comprehend their mission to go out and complete errands their parents need for them to do. Some initial questions I ask are, "How do the kids know the route to get to their destination?" Also, "Is Japan a fairly a safe area for allowing kids to do that?" It is interesting how 1. cultures different from each other in this aspect and 2. that they made a TV documenting this. From Netflix's perspective, it seems like a last resort type-of-move to obtain new subscribers and to keep the old.

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Julia Mary Register
4/25/2022 10:21:47 pm

Reading this article helped me dive into a topic I had briefly talked about with a few people. More and more people definitely seem to be less than thrilled with Netflix's content recently. Some of their most sought out shows and movies have been moved to other streaming services and their Netflix originals are often subpar. Though, I've also noticed that it seems impossible to have it all. Good TV is spread over multiple services such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime, etc. It always seems like we need to subscribe to one more service in order to keep up.

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Sarah Clemson
4/26/2022 11:18:02 am

I never knew that toddlers in Japan are able to run errands despite still being in diapers. I can see how that can be upsetting to the public. In fact, there are a variety of things Netflix has done that has upset the public. I feel that may be part of the reason why the streaming service is losing subscribers so quickly. The pandemic allowed Netflix to receive lots of attention, but too much attention leads to scrutiny. Now there are many other up-and-coming streaming services that people are subscribing to. I believe that in order to save itself, Netflix should cleanse itself of its controversial shows.

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Deantae A Moultrie
4/26/2022 03:46:14 pm

This was a very interesting read. I was not too fond with the idea of the show I can see how it would get old quickly because there's only so much entertainment a 2–3-year-old can provide. Netflix will lose so many followers if they incorporate ads, I honestly love Netflix, however I would immediately unsubscribe it is literally my most expensive monthly subscription and at that point it would not be worth it. I think Netflix has a whole lot of nothing on there, I believe they should start getting rid of a lot of the minor shows and focus more on originals and movies, they should also start dropping episodes on a weekly basis to create longevity, I hate that because I am a binge watcher however, I know that would probably be really helpful for them.

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mckenzie s
4/26/2022 04:38:49 pm

I though this was a very interesting article. I can see why people are not as happy latelty with netflix's content. The pandemic allowed netflix to get a ton of attention but almost too much attention and brought too much attention to controversial shows.

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Luke Foster
4/27/2022 09:31:56 am

I thought this was a very good article on a very relevant topic. Through middle school and most of high school, Netflix was pretty much the only streaming app people had. They either had cable or Netflix, and it felt as if Netflix had no competitors. Things have changed so rapidly in just the past couple years, and it feels like there are so many different options when it comes to streaming services. I find it hard to believe that so many people canceled Netflix and that even more people will cancel in the future. I think Netflix has lost many people due to taking off big shows like The Office and Friends. It is interesting to hear about this show about toddlers, but I agree that one show is not nearly enough to stop the bleeding.

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Emily
4/27/2022 10:54:09 am

I found this article interesting as it brought a few concerns to light. First, I was concerned about the level of content that Netflix is pushing. If their goal is to set them selves apart from other streaming services- why stoop to content that could be controversial and has no real positive affect? Also, as someone who comes from a human services perspective, I found it quite interesting- the concept of this new show. Could this help or hinder a Childs development? Is it appropriate to use this as entertainment or would it better serve as a source of research under a professionals eye?

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Lucas Plumey
4/27/2022 11:29:50 am

I liked this article. It addressed a very real concern that a lot of people have. For a lot of people it just seems that Netflix is releasing the same type of shows. That is why many people, myself included, are moving to spaces like HULU and Disney+. The production quality of these new shows coming out are on a new level, and the actual shows themselves are very entertaining and not found on Netflix.

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Josiah S.
4/27/2022 11:43:51 am

This was very informative to how Netflix is trying to expand its content and the reaction from it that is affecting their stock and company. Netflix is known for making unique series and we can see this by this current show about Japan toddlers going to the market. This just shows that Netflix's new content is not sinking in well with customers and we can see this by the customers going to other streaming services that are giving them better content. Overall this was a very informative article.

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Josiah D.
4/27/2022 11:51:34 am

I think Netflix hit its peak when they took The Office off. I have noticed ever since that happened Netflix has become increasingly less satisfying and has continually lost subscribers to Peacock and Disney+. I think adding this "Old Enough" show is just part of Netflix desperate plea to keep subscribers by adding a lot of foreign tv shows that have not been watched by Americans. I truthfully don't know if Netflix will be there in 10 years.

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