Christmas Toy Lists Cause Financial Hardship
Parents Ask Toy Companies to Stop Advertising to Children
Dec 4, 2008
As the stock market continues to drop – it has lost almost 50 percent of its value in the last three months – Hannah Montana merchandise, Xbox and Nintendo Wii equipment and games and other hot items aren’t staying in stories long, despite hefty price tags. Black Friday sales, of which toys are a large percentage, were up 3 percent this year compared to last year, according to The American Scene blogger Jim Manzi, and Cyber Monday sales, on Dec. 1, were up 15 percent from last year, according to Heather Havenstein, in a Dec. 3 article in Computerworld.
Toy companies are preparing for a happy holiday indeed, at least for the executives.
Families Scaling Back Holiday Spending
Parents worry, though, that the industry is inappropriately targeting children in advertising, creating false expectations about what kids can expect under the tree on Christmas morning.
That concern drove more than a thousand parents to write letters to the executives of toy companies, asking them to stop marketing their products at children, according to a Nov. 30 Associated Press article by David Crary. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood launched the campaign, which contacted 24 toy companies.
“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,” wrote Todd Helmkamp of Hudson, Ind., according to the article.
Parents just don’t have the money for the hundred-dollar toys their children see on TV. Advertising to children has been around for decades; McDonalds has sold billions of Happy Meals because TV commercials entice children to the restaurant. The problem, parents say, is that children aren’t informed consumers; they don’t worry about budgeting, paying bills, recessions, tax increases or inflation. They are, however, informed as to what toys their neighbors are getting and are generally quick to inform their parents what they want, with no thought to the price tag. That kind of informed is also what the toy companies want.
The Toy Industry’s Response
“We believe it is appropriate to market toys and games both to children and to their parents, so long as it is done responsibly,” reads a statement from the Toy Industry Association for this holiday season. “Children are the reason our industry exists.”
In a statement released in response to the letter-writing campaign, the TIA has not backed down from its given responsibility to market to kids.
“If children are not aware of what’s new and available, how will they be able to tell their families what their preferences are?” the statement reads.
Parents, whose preferences are torn between disappointing their children and spending more than they can afford, are seeing themselves as victims to the industry, a self-proclaimed recession-resistant market.
1. “Parents to toy industry: Stop marketing to our kids.” David Crary, Associated Press, Nov. 30.
2. Toy Industry Association, TIA Statement on Marketing to Children, 2008.
3. “Red Friday.” Jim Manzi, The American Scene, Dec. 2 blog entry
4. “Cyber Monday spending up 15% over 2007.” Heather Havenstein, Computerworld, Dec. 3
