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What the Weekend Has Taught Me
Thanksgiving
- Nobody can stab a corpse and not know it. - Real...
They've Changed It and Now It's Not Good
And on the Subject of Toys
Always Carry a Pen
Autumn in New York
Having a Snort?
New Phrases For Bad Behavior
Nursery School Is Nowhere Near Through With Me
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Words. Not From Any Sponsor I Want to Deal With
The television was on a lot over the long weekend, which probably says all kinds of things about me as a parent, but since my kid has paid attention to exactly one thing on the tube for more than 5 seconds (and that, since you're asking was the damp rendition of "One Singular Sensation" from A Chorus Line that was performed during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which I put on, wondering if he'd find the balloons amusing).
Anyway, I became rather glaringly aware of the wildly guilt-inducing text in the advertisements for infant toys made by LeapFrog and its competitor vTech's V.Smile (educational toys for babies).
I can't recall which company produced the most insulting of the ads, but there is one which features a little kid playing around with its mother while a sticky voice intones something like: "You can't decide how tall they'll be or what color hair they'll have, but you can shape their imaginations. . ." and by extension make them smarter and prove yourself a worthy parent and all that crap.
Needless to say, it isn't surprising that companies would decide to twist the knife around holiday time. Parents of older kids are surely being bombarded with child-based requests for all sorts of toys both amusing and unpleasant. (I now hate American Girl Dolls and don't care how edifying they are- I want the catalogues to stop showing up.) But why not give parents a break with their kids who are not yet capable of making consumer requests?
I won't be buying Felix any of these products anytime soon (though I admit he was given a couple of perfectly fine LeapFrog things- one of which he climbs on regularly), because I don't want to think about them and I now hate the ad campaigns so deeply, so I guess I just have to keep my fingers crossed that he'll get into one school or another.
Speaking of which, the saga slugs on: one more tour to go this week and then a little hiatus (during which I will block my ears to all V.Smile ads) before the interviews start.
I told you it was a long saga and it won't end before March.
But here's a consumer question: have you seen a good, non-idiotic set of wild animal flash cards? All I require is that they not be stupid, have photographs and not be religious.
posted by Elise at 11:04 AM
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said...
I'm glad I haven't seen those commercials, because I have a hard time purchasing products whose ads I hate, and my daughter adores the Leapfrog toys. She's obsessed with letters and numbers, so these are right up her alley.
12/06/2006 7:25 AM
said...
Your article is very informative and helped me further.
Thanks, David
2/03/2007 11:36 AM
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