Swooping in to teach

Kids need financial advice, too. Fortunately, crime-fighting superheroes — with amazing financial acumen — have come to save the day. This month, Gray Television Inc. stations premiered “The ¢entsables,” a half-hour show aimed at teaching children 6 to 12 about money management and the financial system, as well as giving useful facts and tips. The weekly animated series follows six bank employees of various species — Aquatique the duck, Greenback the turtle, Hurlwind the squirrel, Toro-nado the bull, Ursa Major the bear, Veloci-Rabbit and their leader, Buck — as they fight villains such as The Liquidator and Credi-tor, and demonstrate positive financial choices for the citizens of ¢entsinnati. The series includes short public service announcements throughout each episode, an interactive website, a comic book series and school outreach programs. A “¢entsables” savings program for kids already has been licensed to 30 banks and credit unions across the country. The show's creator, Mark DiPippa, president of Norm Hill Entertainment Ltd. thinks that financial advisers, accounting firms, retail banks, credit unions and insurance companies could use it to help their clients teach their kids about money. “The average kid in America knows nothing about finance,” he said. “With today's kids spending more than $30 billion on purchases each year, promoting financial literacy should be a priority.” Unfortunately, kids learn very little about money matters in school, Mr. DiPippa said. “There are only four states in the country that have a financial literacy requirement in high school,” he said. Tony Intelisano, Gray Television's executive vice president of sales and marketing, thinks that the use of superhero characters will help kids connect with the program and improve financial literacy in their generation — a vast improvement over what today's adults were taught. “The ¢entsables” is co-produced with Maya Digital Studios Pvt. Ltd., an animation studio based in Mumbai, India.