The trouble with toys

Brands that sell to children are being scrutinised as never before, and the criticism they receive suggests that we’re ready for a big change in the way the toy market conducts business. With growing calls for a global ban on advertising to children, what activities should brands be steering clear of in order to avoid losing the goodwill of that most important of consumers – the parents?

First up there’s that old chestnut of misleading advertisements and packaging. This is hardly a new problem; Disney Pixar encapsulated this nicely in Toy Story (1995). The television shows an advert for the Buzz Lightyear toy, including a shot of it whooshing through the air. Written underneath it in small words is the statement:

Not a flying toy.

Although Disney did a good job of lampooning this element of children’s toy packaging they’ve recently come under scrutiny for the misleading element of their Frozen campaign. Frozen is now the highest grossing Disney animated film of all time, and the sixth highest grossing film ever. Audiences and critics alike love the fact that it’s no traditional Princess tale; the focus of the story is on Anna and Elsa, the sisters who find it hard to relate to each other. But you’d be hard-pressed to know this from the original teaser trailer.

The media commented on what appears to be a misleading tactic, some with disappointment, and others with understanding of what might have prompted the move by Disney. Scott Mendelson, writing for Forbes, noted that, “Sometimes you have to hide the vegetables in the pizza sauce.” But even if it is ever in the best interests of children to misrepresent a brand, it also means that the whole truth is also not being told to parents, who are then not in a strong position to make a decision about whether a product is suitable for their youngsters.

The message behind the brand also has to be examined very carefully – take Mattel’s Monster High. Launched in July 2010, Monster High started out as a range of fashion dolls in which the dolls are the daughters of famous monsters, such as Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, and Medusa. Their popularity has led to a whole range of products, such as stationery, clothing and books. There is also a website, a television series, animated movies and an upcoming live action film. Mattel’s Vice-President of Girls’ Marketing, Lori Pantel, talked about how Monster High aims to reflect positively on the issue of self-esteem. Each character has a ‘freaky flaw’ that they must learn to accept. To tie in with this angle Mattel announced a partnership with the Kind Campaign, a movement that aims to put a stop to bullying through self-empowerment.

This all sounds very positive, and yet Monster High continues to attract criticism for the less laudable messages that some people perceive within it. It’s not just a case of deciding what the underlying theme is and putting it out there; if parents feel that another agenda lurks behind it, then this will impact negatively on the brand.

Some of the issues that are raised in this area include the gender specification of toys. The brand may be trying to appeal primarily to little girls or little boys, but runs the risk of being seen as reinforcing stereotypes. LEGO Friends is one example where a previously gender-neutral brand has found itself being criticised for pigeon-holing the interests of girls. Change.org, the world’s largest petition platform, got involved (garnering 50,000 signatories for its petition) and a Twitter hashtag, #liberateLEGO, was created. Much of the criticism seemed to focus on the fact that LEGO itself has been perceived in the past as a gender neutral toy, open to the imaginations of boys and girls equally. Why did that need to be changed? Happily, the company appears to have been listening to the criticism. Witness its in-development female scientist series.

So what does the future hold? Retailers, including Toys R Us in Sweden and Marks & Spencer in the UK, have announced plans to only sell toys in a gender neutral fashion, meaning that store will not have areas labelled for boys or for girls, and both sexes will be pictured in the advertising playing with the toys. It remains to be seen whether all manufacturers will bow to pressure and follow suit on the packaging and in media campaigns, and in the arena of digital marketing where many toys have their own websites that combine games and downloads with online shopping targeted directly at children. The short-term answer is – why should they? Selling to children is a hugely profitable business. LEGO Friends, Monster High, and Disney are incredibly popular, and parental misgivings don’t seem to affect business.

But the long-term implications might be different. As parental opposition finds voices online, not just in relation to toys but in many aspects of advertising to children, brands that don’t show responsiveness to the situation may find themselves on the receiving end of very negative publicity. And the really long-term answer takes into account that one day children turn into adults, and then into parents themselves – if they felt cheated or misled by a brand at age seven, how will they feel when it comes to exposing their own children to the same types of advertising?

As an aside, I attempted to find some examples of major brands conducting gender-neutral marketing campaigns to children to include with this piece, but, couldn’t find any (do feel free to share them in the comments). So here’s a nice video from DIY toy company Makedo instead.

This piece was written by Aliya Whiteley and originally published on brandperfect.org.