My kid is only two, so I'm not quite there yet, but most of this children's advertising makes my skin crawl. I'm glad to see that I was right about Paw Patrol, it's clearly modeled to be source for many lines of toys (wide cast of characters, each with their own theme and accompanying accessories that can be infinitely re purposed in different toy sets). Slap on "super hero" mode and you've added a whole other dimension to the matrix of possible toys.
The unboxing videos in particular I think are just completely terrible. It's naked consumerism-by-proxy without even the pretext of entertainment. The consumption is the entertainment. Consume, discard. Consume, discard. Next toy.
Lastly, perhaps most awful of all, are the actual-in-the-plastic-flesh "loot crate" type toys that I see at target. They're literally opaque, mystery containers that let you know all the different things you could get from it. This isn't an entirely new concept, but when they're actually called some variation of "loot crate" or "unboxing," it makes me sick. It's sick consumerism at its worst. A big middle finger to whoever decides to actually market these to children. It's disgusting and I hate all of it.
Don't get me started on Christmas and gifts and presents for kids. By age 7 it already made me feel uneasy.
The unboxing videos in particular I think are just completely terrible. It's naked consumerism-by-proxy without even the pretext of entertainment. The consumption is the entertainment. Consume, discard. Consume, discard. Next toy.
Lastly, perhaps most awful of all, are the actual-in-the-plastic-flesh "loot crate" type toys that I see at target. They're literally opaque, mystery containers that let you know all the different things you could get from it. This isn't an entirely new concept, but when they're actually called some variation of "loot crate" or "unboxing," it makes me sick. It's sick consumerism at its worst. A big middle finger to whoever decides to actually market these to children. It's disgusting and I hate all of it.
Don't get me started on Christmas and gifts and presents for kids. By age 7 it already made me feel uneasy.