Saturday, October 27, 2007

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Products of a dissolving society

Wow, that title could be a poem title. But it's not. The television is on quite frequently in the evenings at my house, and as a result I have ingested a generous portion of commercials. And there are some new items and toys meant for the market of children that quite frankly leave me severely worried. Here a couple examples:
The Barbie Fashion Fever Shopping Boutique Play Set
Has anyone else seen the commercial for this? In our world today gross credit card debt is already a huge problem, but now we're getting kids addicted too! Here's an excerpt from the description at Amazon.com: "The Shopping Boutique Playset comes with three outfits, including shoes and sunglasses, and the rotating pole can hold up to 20 clothing and accessory pieces. Also included is a display stand that doubles as the cashier counter where you "buy" your clothes. Swipe the Fashion Fever credit card to "pay" and find out the remaining balance on your account. But don’t fret. Once the balance hits zero, it will reset so you can continue to shop. Barbie dolls not included." Here it is again in case you didn't catch it: "Swipe the Fashion Fever credit card to "pay" and find out the remaining balance on your account. But don’t fret. Once the balance hits zero, it will reset so you can continue to shop." And the girl on the commercial joyously cries: "You never run out of Money!" I could rant and rant about this, but I'll just leave it here. anyone else worried?

And here's the other one that just disturbs me: the Barbie Stable Styles Playset. Here's a toy horse that you can brush, and groom, and get ready for a "horse show." It's all so innocent sounding. BUT here's an excerpt, again from the amazon product description: "Girls love to glam up this beautiful horse! For a totally new look, remove the blonde horse head and replace with a gorgeous brunette head." Anyone else getting a Frankenstein vibe? What kind of sick corporation lets you DECAPITATE your horse and give it a shiny new head cause you don't like it's hair? Kind of creepy, don't you think?
I realize these are both Barbie toys, and I fully believe that Mattel is an evil organization headed by a cliche evil villain bent on destroying our world as we know it. and he's succeeding. but it makes me wonder what they'll come out with next. I guess all we can do is embrace the approaching apocalypse. Anyways, that's my rant against the increasingly dominant rule of global corporations.
Hope you enjoyed it!