Viking Kitten
12/1/2008, 05:00 PM
WTF is wrong these people? (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/29/AR2008112901116.html)
Meltdown fallout: some parents rethink toy-buying
By DAVID CRARY
The Associated Press
Saturday, November 29, 2008; 1:35 PM
NEW YORK -- In a season that inspires earnest letters about toys, one notable batch is being sent not by kids to Santa's workshop but by parents to the executive suites of real-world toy makers.
The message: Please, in these days of economic angst, cut back on marketing your products directly to our children.
The letter-writing initiative was launched by the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which says roughly 1,400 of its members and supporters have contacted 24 leading toy companies and retailers to express concern about ads aimed at kids.
"Unfortunately, I will not be able to purchase many of the toys that my sons have asked for; we simply don't have the money," wrote Todd Helmkamp of Hudson, Ind. "By bombarding them with advertisements ... you are placing parents like me in the unenviable position of having to tell our children that we can't afford the toys you promote."
The Toy Industry Association has responded with a firm defense of current marketing practices, asserting that children "are a vital part of the gift selection process."
"If children are not aware of what is new and available, how will they be able to tell their families what their preferences are?" an industry statement said. "While there is certainly greater economic disturbance going on now, families have always faced different levels of economic well-being and have managed to tailor their spending to their means."
In recent conference calls with investors, toy company executives said they expect to suffer some holiday-season impact from the economic crisis, yet suggested their industry would be more resilient than many other sectors. The toy industry is commonly viewed as recession-resistant, due largely to the parent-child dynamic.
"Parents have trouble saying no," said Allison Pugh, a University of Virginia sociology professor. She says parents often buy toys to avoid guilt and ensure their children feel in sync with school classmates.
"Even under circumstances of dire financial straits, that's the last thing parents give up," said Pugh. "They'll contain their own buying for themselves before they'll make their child feel different at school."
Amanda Almodovar says she encounters such families in her work as an elementary school social worker in Alamance County, N.C., where homelessness and unemployment are rising.
"I had one parent who said she'd prostitute herself to get what her child wants," Almodovar said. "It's heartbreaking. They feel inadequate as parents.
"I try to tell them, worry about your home, your heating bill _ but they're the ones who have to look into children's faces, the children saying 'I want this, I want that.'"
blah blah, blah... that's all I could stand to read.
So WTF is wrong with these people? "Oh Mister Toy Manufacturer! Please stop advertising to our children... You're making me tell them 'no' and I don't know how! Waaaa!"
Here's how: "No." It's pretty easy. "No. We can't afford that." And/or "Santa is not bringing you that. Ask him for something smaller." It's absolutely ridiculous that these parents are setting their children up for lifelong disappointment. They can't and won't always get exactly what they want and childhood is the best time to learn this, you know, when they're more resilient and stuff.
And how 'bout the lady who said she'd prostitute herself to get her kids what they want? Does she not understand what a kid wants is to have a mother who's not a whore?
This is sickening. What the hell is wrong with us that we do this to ourselves over "stuff"? THIS IS WHY PEOPLE HATE CHRISTMAS!!! Well, this and radio stations that start playing 24/7 Christmas music in mid-November.:kelvin:
Meltdown fallout: some parents rethink toy-buying
By DAVID CRARY
The Associated Press
Saturday, November 29, 2008; 1:35 PM
NEW YORK -- In a season that inspires earnest letters about toys, one notable batch is being sent not by kids to Santa's workshop but by parents to the executive suites of real-world toy makers.
The message: Please, in these days of economic angst, cut back on marketing your products directly to our children.
The letter-writing initiative was launched by the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which says roughly 1,400 of its members and supporters have contacted 24 leading toy companies and retailers to express concern about ads aimed at kids.
"Unfortunately, I will not be able to purchase many of the toys that my sons have asked for; we simply don't have the money," wrote Todd Helmkamp of Hudson, Ind. "By bombarding them with advertisements ... you are placing parents like me in the unenviable position of having to tell our children that we can't afford the toys you promote."
The Toy Industry Association has responded with a firm defense of current marketing practices, asserting that children "are a vital part of the gift selection process."
"If children are not aware of what is new and available, how will they be able to tell their families what their preferences are?" an industry statement said. "While there is certainly greater economic disturbance going on now, families have always faced different levels of economic well-being and have managed to tailor their spending to their means."
In recent conference calls with investors, toy company executives said they expect to suffer some holiday-season impact from the economic crisis, yet suggested their industry would be more resilient than many other sectors. The toy industry is commonly viewed as recession-resistant, due largely to the parent-child dynamic.
"Parents have trouble saying no," said Allison Pugh, a University of Virginia sociology professor. She says parents often buy toys to avoid guilt and ensure their children feel in sync with school classmates.
"Even under circumstances of dire financial straits, that's the last thing parents give up," said Pugh. "They'll contain their own buying for themselves before they'll make their child feel different at school."
Amanda Almodovar says she encounters such families in her work as an elementary school social worker in Alamance County, N.C., where homelessness and unemployment are rising.
"I had one parent who said she'd prostitute herself to get what her child wants," Almodovar said. "It's heartbreaking. They feel inadequate as parents.
"I try to tell them, worry about your home, your heating bill _ but they're the ones who have to look into children's faces, the children saying 'I want this, I want that.'"
blah blah, blah... that's all I could stand to read.
So WTF is wrong with these people? "Oh Mister Toy Manufacturer! Please stop advertising to our children... You're making me tell them 'no' and I don't know how! Waaaa!"
Here's how: "No." It's pretty easy. "No. We can't afford that." And/or "Santa is not bringing you that. Ask him for something smaller." It's absolutely ridiculous that these parents are setting their children up for lifelong disappointment. They can't and won't always get exactly what they want and childhood is the best time to learn this, you know, when they're more resilient and stuff.
And how 'bout the lady who said she'd prostitute herself to get her kids what they want? Does she not understand what a kid wants is to have a mother who's not a whore?
This is sickening. What the hell is wrong with us that we do this to ourselves over "stuff"? THIS IS WHY PEOPLE HATE CHRISTMAS!!! Well, this and radio stations that start playing 24/7 Christmas music in mid-November.:kelvin: