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[Breaking] Bad Dolls

10/25/2014

 
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For any popular movie or television show, we expect to see a litany of branded merchandise ranging from t-shirts to lunch bags.  Although some question these products, most of the tie-ins are benign, if not useful and fun.  Not all of this merchandise, however, is harmless.

Case in point:  National toy retailer Toys R Us, recently began selling action figures based on several characters from “Breaking Bad,” AMC’s very popular and highly acclaimed TV drama that chronicled the struggles of high school chemistry teacher Walter White, who turned to selling crystal meth in order to help secure his family’s financial future after being diagnosed with incurable lung cancer.  Over the course of the series, which ran from 2008-2013, White became more deeply entrenched in the drug trade, while his character became darker, and his morality more questionable.

Fortunately the Breaking Bad dolls in Toys R Us didn’t go unnoticed by concerned consumers.  A Fort Myers, Florida mom, Susan Schrivjer, launched a petition on Change.org, asking Toys R Us to stop selling the figures, one of which came with a bag of mini-meth; another had a mini meth-cooking safety mask.  After initially standing its ground, stating that the dolls were targeted toward youth 15 and older, Toys R Us eventually conceded and pulled the action figures from its stores.

It’s hard to understand how Toys R Us and the dolls’ manufacturer failed to foresee how this merchandising venture would end.  To market products that glamorize the drug trade is in itself highly questionable.  To target children with those same products is unfathomable.

Given their
tenuous financial potential and morally dubious nature, the Breaking Bad dolls neither created stakeholder value nor upheld societal values.  The result is a fairly easy call: Mindless Marketing.

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Elliot Rossomme
12/9/2014 06:17:44 am

While I agree that marketing Breaking Bad action figures in a children's toy store may not be the most mindful tactic, I cannot stand behind the Florida mom and the petition to remove these items from stores when Toys R Us sells many other products that promote illicit behavior in much more significant ways. A quick examination of the Toys R Us website reveals that the company carries video game titles such as Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty, both of which promote violence, inappropriate sexuality, and other behaviors that are arguably not suitable for some of the children who will be shopping at this store. Additionally, the retailer carries movie titles like Fast and Furious, Taken, and others, all of which contain some combination of violence, sexual activity, or explicit language. Now I must be clear, I am not arguing that Toys R Us should remove all of these products from their shelves. To the contrary, I think that Toys R Us has made the right decision to leave these products on their shelves, leaving the parents responsible to ensure that the products their children use are wholesome. I think that there is a disconnect between the mentality that Breaking Bad action figures should be removed from shelves, while other forms of media that promote the same type of violence and questionable character are permitted to remain in the stores. Furthermore, many of these products (I think specifically of Grand Theft Auto) actually require players to virtually engage in the exact activities that take place in Breaking Bad. Regardless of whether one thinks that the marketing of these companies was mindless or not, it stands to reason that there are other products being sold at Toys R Us that have arguably worse content but remain on shelves, and I think this contradiction needs to be addressed.

Jonathan Bell
12/10/2014 02:21:11 pm

It is understandable why people would be upset by Toys R Us carrying merchandise related to a show targeting adults. However, there are two things to consider.

First, the "action figure" toy appeals to an older generation rather than the current young generation. Adults who grew up with action figures may find satisfaction in owning an action figure of their favorite character on television.

Second, parents have the ability to govern their children's purchases and what toys they receive. Legos are choking hazards for small children, but that does not mean that they must be removed from stores. A dollhouse would not be a good toy to purchase a late teen either, but that doesn't mean a store has to target one particular age group. Toys R Us carries toys for many different ages of children, and then toys that may appeal to older people, like breaking bad action figures, rated "M" video games, board games, and other things. It is up to parents to make sure that their children receive the right toys, not the store's responsibility.


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