Eight-year-old Jessica can't wait to see the new Fantasy Land movie, It's a Dog's World. Mother sits with her as they search the Net using "Fantasy Land" and "It's a Dog's World" as their keywords. Jackpot! Jessica reads the first link -- "Big Burger Meets Dog's World" -- and clicks on it.

Jessica is mesmerized by the virtual playground filled with stars from Fantasy Land movies and all the people at Big Burger, even the Big Burger Bird!  She's seen them all on TV.  They invite her to color pictures, play games, and tour their "Kidz Town" to visit the people and shops.

Mom, who considers herself a savvy surfer, checks out the site's privacy policy before letting Jessica continue:

Big Burger follows the FTC guidelines for compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and Rule. Verifiable parental permission is required prior to the collection of any personal information. Big Burger Restaurants, Inc. collects personal information on a voluntary basis only. 

Personal information posted to the Big Burger site becomes our property. It is used for internal purposes only, such as marketing and research, and will not be sold to third parties. Big Burger offers an "opt-out" feature that allows you to remove your and/or your kids' email address from our files at any time.

Big Burger also uses "cookie" technology to obtain non-personal information. This technology helps us track visitors to our site in aggregate form. We do not use this technology to extract specific information on an individual or to contact you, and we do not generally sell this information to third parties. Cookies allow us to update and improve the site for our visitors.

Satisfied, she completes the parental permission form and then leaves Jessica to it.  Jessica colours a beautiful picture of Woofs -- star of It's a Dog's World -- playing in a field with the Big Burger Bird.  She's so proud of the results that she prints it out to hang on the fridge.

Then she tries one of the games. It is an exciting sort of hide-and-seek in which the Big Burger Bird (Triple B, for short) has to find and pack all the ingredients for an imaginary Bird Burger Meal. Jessica begins with the Kidz Burger, dripping with that special sauce, then she adds the large soft drink and fries. And last but not least -- the ice cream sundae topped with all her favourite sprinkles. Mmmm, Jessica's getting hungry. But there's still a couple of hours before dinner, so she decides to visit Kidz Town. 

WOW! What a treat for the eyes! This, thinks Jessica, is just like a real town with streets, cars and trucks, people and pets, all kinds of buildings, blue sky and bright yellow sun, even lush green grass, colourful flowers and butterflies. And hey, there's the Big Burger Bird!  He asks Jessica to fill in a form with her name, e-mail address, favourite games and movies, and favourite Big Burger characters and meals before boarding the bus for the Kidz Town Tour.  She happily types in her name and e-mail address and clicks the boxes beside her answers to the other questions. She boards the bus and clicks on characters, who then talk to her. She visits shops specializing in all sorts of Fantasy Land and Big Burger dolls, clothes, games, and other neat stuff. She'd really like to have that Woofus doll. Maybe Mom will buy it for her. Where is Mom, anyway? She disconnects and goes to find her.

Jessica asks Mom to hang the picture on the fridge. Mom agrees and praises her for her wonderful coloring job.  Then Jessica asks if they can go to Big Burger after the movie, and could she please get the Woofus doll too? Mom, always trying to live within a tight budget, figures out the cost. Whew, $55!  Mom tells Jessica that she can't afford everything, but seeing the disappointment on Jessica's face, she relents, saying she'll see what she can do.

Mom manages to take Jessica to the movie, but waits a few weeks before treating her to a trip to Big Burger.  Jessica is thrilled to order the new special, a Bird Burger Meal.  It's just like the one in the game she played on the Internet! 

A few days later, Jessica makes a thrilling discovery.  Big Burger Bird has written an e-mail to her!  He says her new friends in Kidz Town miss her and would love to see her again soon.  He says there's lot of new stuff to see and do...

Now, let's take a closer look at the marketing strategies targeted at kids like Jessica: