Post date: Nov 19, 2010 1:32:57 PM

NEW YORK, Nov. 19, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Facebook may not officially allow those under 13 to create accounts, but that's not stopping 1st-6th graders from naming the site as one of their Most Loved Brands of 2010. According to Young Love, an annual study by leading youth and family research firm, Smarty Pants®, Facebook's brand affinity ranking among kids 6-12 jumped 85 positions in the past year and is now a Top 100 brand among tweens 9-12. The shift in Facebook's ranking from 2009 is among the most significant increases of the 270+ brands evaluated by more than 4,500 children and their parents.

"We see kids Facebook-ing their friends, parents, teachers and coaches everyday as we study families, but even we were surprised by the dramatic shift in Facebook's ranking," states Smarty Pants president,Wynne Tyree. "We were amazed to see the brand beat out kid favorites like Barbie, Club Penguin andHarry Potter. It reminds us that – for better and worse – kids are part of the contemporary adult conversation."

Brands that help families connect top this year's list of kids' most loved. Nintendo's Wii holds on to the #1 spot, followed closely by McDonald's, M&M'S, Disney Channel and Oreo. iPod Touch and iPad made impressive 2010 debuts at #35 and #109, respectively. Facebook leapt from #181 to #126 this year among kids 6-12 and to #91 among tweens 9-12.

Young Love™ was conducted online among a representative sample of U.S. households with children. More than 270 consumer brands across 20 categories were evaluated during the six-month study.

Smarty Pants

Smarty Pants, LLC (www.asksmartypants.com) is a market research consultancy with offices in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Johnson City, TN. The firm conducts family research and guides marketers on advertising, products and consumer trends. Clients include Electronic Arts, Hasbro, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros., Aramark, American Eagle Outfitters, Cartoon Network, Hallmark, Reebok, Sesame Workshop, Crayola and Girl Scouts of the USA.

SOURCE Smarty Pants, LLC