Bothered by Toys R Us ad this week

[disneysteve]

This week's Toys R Us circular really annoyed me. The front page is entirely taken up by an ad for the iPod. The main part is for the $150 model. The lower part is for a more expensive model ($230 I think) and there is a small inset for the Shuffle for $50.

I don't know about anybody else, but I sure don't consider a $150 or $230 iPod to be a toy. Even the $50 "cheap" model isn't a toy. I was surprised to learn that Toys R Us even sells iPods as I don't see how that fits what a toy store should be selling.

I'm more bothered by the whole marketing since those circulars really aren't aimed at parents but at kids. They want to kids to flip through and see the things they then ask mom and dad for at birthday and holiday time.

How did our society get so off-track? What happened to Barbie and GI Joe and Lego and board games (the ones where you actually have to count the money and roll the dice)? I'm 44 and still have most of my good board games from childhood. How many kids today will still have their iPods 30 years from now? ZERO!

Sorry, but I just find the whole thing very sad.

[mom-from-missouri]

I agree. That is why you won't find an Ipod in this house, but you will find lots of books, boardgames, legos, lincoln logs, dress up clothes...And outside, bikes, swingset and I think right now the girls have up a volleyball and badmitten set up. Other kids around here thought my girls had "new" games a few years ago when we had an all school party/hayride here, because they had never heard of horseshoes or croquet.

[DebbieL]

Well, I had a record player when I was little, and a stereo in my room by the time I was 10, as well as a Sony Walkman and what we used to call a "ghetto blaster". I had those things by about the age of 12 or so.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by DebbieL

Well, I had a record player when I was little, and a stereo in my room by the time I was 10, as well as a Sony Walkman and what we used to call a "ghetto blaster". I had those things by about the age of 12 or so.

It isn't that I'm opposed to the technology. My daughter is 13 and has an iPod and a cell phone and, of course, we have computers in the house. I was more bothered by the fact that this was the front page ad for a toy store. If it was the Best Buy ad, it wouldn't bother me a bit. I'd fully expect that. It was the fact that it was the Toys R Us ad that bothered me.

[Gruntina]

I think of Toys R Us for children age 7 or less?

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Gruntina

I think of Toys R Us for children age 7 or less?

I'd say higher than that. We don't shop there, but we certainly buy our 13-year-old items that they sell there. We just buy them at Target or Wal-Mart.

[DebbieL]

Well, the one here has always sold that kind of stuff, along with XBox, and all the other systems and gaming things, etc. Them advertising the iPod doesn't seem incongruous to me since they've always featured that kind of stuff (at least the one in my city has).

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by DebbieL

Well, the one here has always sold that kind of stuff, along with XBox, and all the other systems and gaming things, etc. Them advertising the iPod doesn't seem incongruous to me since they've always featured that kind of stuff (at least the one in my city has).

Sorry if I can't quite articulate what bothered me. I think it was that the iPod was the only item on the cover and it was such a costly item. If the page would have had 8 or 10 items of varying sorts and varying prices, I probably wouldn't have even noticed it (as I usually just toss their circular right in the recycling bin). It just really jumped out at me being a full-page iPod ad It just seemed somehow over the top for a toy store.

[bjl584]

I guess all that I can say in defense of Toys R Us, is that if they thought that an Ipod didn't fit their sales strategy, then they probably wouldn't be trying to sell it. But, this isn't new for them. I bought several video games from them back in 2001, all of which had a Mature rating. Defenitely not something that you would want a kid to have.

The other side of the story is that the world is changing. I read an interesting article in Popular Mechanics several years ago talking about younger adults and teens tinkering around with computers to make them faster and do things that they were never intended to do from the factory. It likened what they were doing to what those kids' parents did with cars. While the older generation would work on engines to get more power out of their cars, their children have started to do the same thing but with a computer. I guess that the appeal of board games, Legos, and even playing outside are giving way to technology, video games, the internet, and the like. I am 30, and i even see it in my neighborhood. Growing up, me and my friends were always outside riding bikes, playing in the woods, riding sleds in the winter, whatever to get us out of the house. I just don't see a lot of kids around town outdoors anymore. I know that they are there, they're just entertaining themselves in other ways.

[JeanneElle]

That is a bit bizarre. The only person in our house with an ipod is my husband, and he bought his at Best Buy.

Maybe they're trying to appeal to the parents with a "one stop shop for gifts" idea. As in, "come in and buy your four year old a mega blocks set, and while you're here, get your 14 year old an ipod too."

[rennigade]

toys r us is no different than mcdonalds. mcdonalds gets the attention of children by offering toys and having play rooms inside the restaurants.

children are the future. why not corrupt them right off the bat then wait until they're old enough to actually think for themselves. thanks corporate america.

[bjl584]

children are the future. why not corrupt them right off the bat then wait until they're old enough to actually think for themselves. thanks corporate america.

The same argument could be made against public education and state run universities filling the students' oatmeal filled heads full of nonsense. I guess it should fall back to the responsibility of the parents to sort out that kind of stuff, at least in a perfect world. But unfortunately, it often doesn't work that way.

[mom-from-missouri]

I think it boils down to toys r us are toys for all ages, not just kids. Adults have toys too.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by mom-from-missouri

I think it boils down to toys r us are toys for all ages, not just kids. Adults have toys too.

That's true, but it wasn't an adult pictured in the ad. It was a young girl.

I agree with bjl584. The world has changed. I just don't think it has all been changes for the better.

[bjl584]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

That's true, but it wasn't an adult pictured in the ad. It was a young girl.

I agree with bjl584. The world has changed. I just don't think it has all been changes for the better.

I agree Steve. I don't have kids, but if I did, I think that I would rather have them playing outside meeting new people and getting some exercise as opposed to them sitting in their bedroom on the computer all afternoon.

[rizzmo]

Our culture is changing at a very fast rate. I agree with Steve that having an item that is that expensive occupy the whole cover is a bit undermining of the whole concept of a toy store, however I think the toy store concept has been fading for quite sometime now.

[tripods68]

Steve----I hear you. I think it is the times that we are livin today. It's hard to hold on to the past. If Toy R Us was public company, shareholders will be clamoring why iPods aren't in our stores, or XBOX, Wii---it has become a demanding society and kids has become spoiled pressured by own peers and technology geeky savvy nurtured kids because of parents. Its not the kids fault they have it all, it boils down to the parents. Again, times has changed. You either becoming too old to keep up with the current technology or your simply viewed as out of touch. Personally I like to keep up with my kids it keeps me young...

[ScrimpAndSave]

Tripods..I agree with you...and I teach elementary kids k-4.

[disneysteve]

I think it is very possible (because we've done it with our own daughter) to have the modern technology without the spoiled, peer-pressured upbringing. We have iPods, cell phones, Wii, computer with high speed access, etc. But none of those things came quick and easy. All were debated and discussed before buying and all their use is regulated now. I think the problems arise when the parents just buy anything and everything and let the kids go wild with it. For example, our daughter has a Nintendo DS but you won't ever see her playing it in a restaurant like we've seen so many times. You also won't see her texting her friends while we're there. Mind you, she has asked if she could bring the game and we've said no. She's pulled out her phone intending to send a text and was told to put it away. We're not afraid to say no to her (we do it all the time ). It just seems that so many parents simply don't.

So I don't believe the problem is the technology. The problem is who gets it and how it is used. And the blatant commercialism and full-page ads certainly don't help.

[glock35ipsc]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I'm more bothered by the whole marketing since those circulars really aren't aimed at parents but at kids. They want to kids to flip through and see the things they then ask mom and dad for at birthday and holiday time.

They know about 90% or so of the kids will bug the crap out of Mom and Dad to get them, and Mom and Dad will most likely cave and buy them because back bones in parents are a rarity these days.

How did our society get so off-track? What happened to Barbie and GI Joe and Lego and board games......

Ever heard of Shopping Spree Barbie? She came with her own credit card. Wonder who sponsored her???

I'm with you, it's ridiculous. I'm glad our kids like playing out in the pasture and making up their own games. Kinda like I did as a kid......