Bothered by Toys R Us ad this week

**mom-from-missouri** · 10-20-2008, 12:43 PM

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** · 10-20-2008, 02:02 PM

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** · 10-20-2008, 02:14 PM

Originally posted by DebbieL View Post

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** · 10-20-2008, 03:20 PM

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

**disneysteve** · 10-20-2008, 03:44 PM

Originally posted by Gruntina View Post

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** · 10-20-2008, 03:55 PM

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** · 10-20-2008, 04:22 PM

Originally posted by DebbieL View Post

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** · 10-21-2008, 06:06 AM

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** · 10-21-2008, 06:16 AM

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** · 10-21-2008, 07:39 AM

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** · 10-21-2008, 07:55 AM

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** · 10-21-2008, 07:59 AM

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

**disneysteve** · 10-21-2008, 08:37 AM

Originally posted by mom-from-missouri View Post

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** · 10-21-2008, 08:41 AM

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

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.

Bothered by Toys R Us ad this week