Tommy or Calvin? Hanson or Puff Daddy?

Sports Illustrated has the perfect antidote for trend-weary retailers, frazzled by the prospect of trying to figure out the fickle tastes of kids and teens. SI’s recently released The Sports Illustrated for Kids Ominibus Study promises to provide a peek at what’s catching the fancy of young people today. In preparing the report, research company Harrigan-Bodick interviewed 613 U.S. boys and girls, ages nine to 13, in February and in May of this year. The study was broken down into three areas, covering sports, leisure and values, and brand preferences. Here’s a highlight of some of the rankings in a number of entertainment and product categories:

Favorite sport or activity:

1) basketball

2) football

3) swimming/diving

4) baseball

5) soccer

Favorite athlete:

1) Michael Jordan (basketball)

2) Tara Lipinksi (figure skating)

3) Kobe Bryant (basketball)

4) Emmit Smith (football)

5) Jerry Rice (football)

Favorite kind of music:

1) pop

2) rap

3) rhythm & blues

4) alternative

5) heavy metal

Favorite musical artists:

pop-Spice Girls, Hanson, Usher, Backstreet Boys, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion

rap-Puff Daddy, L.L. Cool J, Wu-Tang Clan, Mace, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Tupac Shakur

rhythm & blues-Boyz II Men, Mary J. Blige

heavy metal-Metallica

Favorite store to buy everyday clothes:

1) JCPenney

2) The Gap and Old Navy

3) Dillard’s, Macy’s and Kmart

Favorite brand of clothing for dressing up:

1) Tommy Hilfiger

2) Calvin Klein

3) JCPenney

4) The Gap

5) Old Navy

6) Macy’s

7) Dillard’s

8) Ralph Lauren

9) DKNY

Favorite brand of jeans:

1) Levi’s

2) Tommy Hilfiger

3) Lee

4) Calvin Klein

5) The Gap

6) Arizona

7) Guess

Favorite brand of clothing with a sports team logo:

1) Nike

2) Adidas

3) Starter

4) Reebok

5) Champion

6) L.A. Gear

Favorite brand of athletic shoe:

1) Nike

2) Adidas

3) Reebok

4) Fila

5) Airwalks

6) Vans

Favorite brand of sunglasses:

1) Oakley

2) Ray-Ban

3) Guess

4) Anne Klein

5) Blu Blockers

Favorite video game system:

1) Nintendo (NET) [tk]

2) Sony PlayStation

3) Nintendo Ultra 64

4) Sega

Favorite brand of computer:

1) Apple Macintosh

2) IBM

3) Gateway

4) Hewlett-Packard

5) Compaq

6) Dell

7) Sony

Favorite brand of soda:

1) Coke

2) Pepsi Cola

3) Dr. Pepper

4) Sprite

5) A&W Root Beer