*Bling Bling* Toys..WHAT?!?!

**JustMegan79** · 03-29-2006, 10:03 PM

Oh my goodness. I dont have any kids so never have any reason to watch the Cartoon Network. However tonight I am babysitting my neighbors son in barter for use of neighbors pu truck this weekend to go to Lowes and get woods. Cartoons are on, I am typing away and reading the forum, and I hear the words *Bling Bling* I look up and see....

a flashy shiny sportcar toy with a skinny tanned blonde doll in it showing off a HUGE shinky "diamond" ring. The tune was something like Get your Bling Bling My scene today.

Ok, is it just me or is this absolutely NUTS?! Talk about consumerism and targeting kids for non essential spending and materialistic values. As if the skinny convertible driving Barbies arent enough, now we have something that is ACTUALLY called Bling Bling...(meaning money, expensive, etc).
That sure is a great value for kids to learn. Make them want the toy, then they will want the real thing. This is CRAZY!

Rant over.

~~Megan

**JustMegan79** · 03-29-2006, 10:04 PM

I dont know how to edit, so "shinky" should be Shiny. Oops.

**ewokgirl** · 03-29-2006, 11:53 PM

*sigh* It's all about turning them into little consumers. Unfortunately, it doesn't surprise me. There are so many people out there with that attitude, so it's no shock that they're trying to pass those so-called values on to the younger generation.

A few years ago, we were all over at my MIL's house, and my ex-SIL (she wound up divorcing DH's brother) was telling her daughter not to accept an "inferior" ring from her future husband. She told her to hold out for the big diamond that she wants. I could've slugged her for telling that to my precious and impressionable niece! Nothing about loving the ring that her future DH gives her out of love, especially if it's not big but it's what he can afford. I think a lot of little girls are probably growing up being told that sort of thing. Now they have dolls to drive that shallow and materialistic point home.

**frugalfarmwife** · 03-30-2006, 05:25 AM

Isn't it scary? And the toys aimed at making them grow up so fast just scare me too, I'm so glad I don't have kids!

Hubby and I were talking about this though and it's not that much different from when we were kids, just different and more shallow toys today, when we were little it was Stretch Armstrong, Dawn Dolls, Tricky Tommy Turtle, Hot Wheels, etc, etc. All thrown in kids faces all day long, our parents were just better at saying NO

kj

**joyb** · 03-30-2006, 06:12 AM

I agree. Children are being sent the wrong messages from a lot of sources.

**carolyns** · 03-30-2006, 08:31 AM

I agree. My son LOVES cartoon network and every time one of those commercials come on he begs for the toy. We have many discussions about how every commercial is aimed to sell you something and how, when we do buy a toy, it is never as wonderful as they try to make it seem on t.v. HE is the one that tells me that!

**schellie69** · 03-30-2006, 09:15 AM

I know I have 4 children and have went through this for years, Every toy is always bigger and better then the last, My kids had more fun playing with the boxes then the toys, as proof of this last week we bought the shower for our new bathroom and my boys 14 and 10 spent days playing with the box they made a hide out a tent with a camp site, with a make belive fire and everything and now they have a hole they dug in the back yard now the box is the roof to thier dug out club... and almost everynight I hear the two of them planning some new use for the box. I have tried to teach my kids that bigger does not always mean better.. My son's faviorite toys are legos and hot wheels which I can pick up at garage sales for little of nothing. I try to buy toys that they can build with to help them use their brains. I am planning on getting the plans for making a solor cooker and have my 14 year old son with supervision make it for us to use this summer. Right now my kids will change channells when commericals come on so they don't really see many. but when they see a food they like they ask me to get the cheap version of it. like fruit peppels they ask if they can have the malt-o-meal kind they say it taste just as good... lol maybe they are learning from watching me. or if they see some kind of instant food they ask if it can be made from scratch,,, i hope they keep up this thinking...

**JustMegan79** · 03-30-2006, 10:15 AM

Originally posted by frugalfarmwife
Isn't it scary? And the toys aimed at making them grow up so fast just scare me too, I'm so glad I don't have kids!

Hubby and I were talking about this though and it's not that much different from when we were kids, just different and more shallow toys today, when we were little it was Stretch Armstrong, Dawn Dolls, Tricky Tommy Turtle, Hot Wheels, etc, etc. All thrown in kids faces all day long, our parents were just better at saying NO

kj

When I was little, we had the Fisher Price Family house, you know, the one with the plastic cars and each kid had a bedroom and there was a kitchen, the house opened in the middle, and the whole familit hd no legs and perfectly round heads. At lest that ws aimed at a family atmosphere. But this Bling thing, nd so many other toys I see, are aimed at being skinny, blond, sexy, wearing clothes no 8 year old should be caught dead in, etc.. Its such a shame, things really have changed from my days of bikes, hula hoops, stuffed animals, etc.

Megan

**ironmaiden** · 03-30-2006, 03:13 PM

I hate when they try to sell "brittany spears" type clothing to little kids. The year my daughter was 1, I had a heck of a time finding her a non-bikini bathing suit. Who puts a bikini on a 1 year old in a diaper?

There is a new market called "tweens" the 8-12 year old that they are trying to sell to. Teach them to want to buy.

And it is one of the reasons that I'm pissed the school committee wants the mall - umm... values for kids anyone??

**yankeegal** · 03-30-2006, 06:23 PM

creativity in play? I mean all kids today have to do is plug it in, turn it on, and veg in front of it. Bravo to the kids who were able to take a "box" and use their imaginations! And to the parents who inspire them!

**starsapphire** · 03-30-2006, 09:54 PM

Man, I remember when I was a kid. We had TV but only got a few channels and two out of the three were non major network channels. Me and my friends would do things like make up a magic show and charge our family members ten cents to watch, do up a 'haunted house' bedroom at Halloween - one year was the Olympics and that inspired us to have our own olympics with running races, wheelbarrow races, etc. We made our own 'medals' out of white cotton string and scrounged bottlecaps. We found some yellow spraypaint for the gold medals. For silver we just rubbed them on concrete until they were shiny, and for bronze we just used all the rusty bottlecaps.

Its sad to see that more and more kids don't learn how to use their imaginations.

**missymomof3** · 03-31-2006, 02:05 PM

Oh my goodness I thought I was the only one who thought that way!!! My kids aren't allowed to wear revealing clothing, own dolls that have their bellies hanging out, and so on. I also don't have cable. If I did, my kids wouldn't move! everytime we go somewhere that does have it they vegetate in front of the TV.
what aboutg the parents who spend three times what a toy is worth just so their kid can have it at Christmas? wHow about waiting until a birthday or something and pay a reasonable price??
I just don't get it!!!! Sorry about the rant.

**ironmaiden** · 03-31-2006, 06:17 PM

Oh, and that little Fisher Price Farmhouse - now it the cow actually moos and pressing buttons everywhere makes noises. Remember when kids actually had to make the mooing sounds and other noises themselves? My daughter had the Fisher Price dollhouse and instead of playing with it, the kids just look for the places to press to make the sounds ...

**schellie69** · 04-02-2006, 11:54 AM

My mil gave my kids when they were little the old fisher price little people toys that my dh and sil played with they had so much fun playing and making neat noises. My ds's now make there own race tracks and towns. I showed them how to make roads out side, They had a whole town using rocks leafs tree branchs and few butter containers, they cut them out and painted them and used them for all kinds of things. My kids are excited we planted sunflowers and rasberry and black berry bushes yesterday they can't wait to harvest the goodies. My kids and I are going to make a solor cooker this summer also. I am lucky my kids want to play with and make things from scratch which is great, My oldest ds won a ninteno ds, on his last day of 8th grade last year. he was so surprised because he had 10 tickets and he divided them among all the give aways while the other kids stuck all their tickets in the biggest best toys, and it was my son that one the ds, all the kids tried to talk him out of it but he said no, he shares it with his sisters and brother, the kids want a game cube (a new version of the ninteno) they are saving change and going to use money that they earn this summer and they are buying it at a used shop that goes through them and they are like new that way they pay less then half price. I am so proud of my kids for not bugging me for all the brand new stuff that comes out and I relaly smile when they ask for books instead of toys I will buy my kids books anytime they ask and I have the money. Now all my kids start looking for coupons and sales if there is some special food that they want to try or they look for the generic. even with all the peer pressure to have the newest best toy they still want to wait and find it on sale or at a garage sale. they know that if they wait the will find it(some kid will sell it at a garage sale because he got the newer version) but this way they can see if they really want it or if it just something cool. I have a friend that always buys her kids the newest toy and sometimes it hard not to just go out and buy something because she did, but I know that in the long run I am teaching my children a better leason. and when they are grown maybe they won't have the money a lot of children will have with buying things that they don't need and won't use. thanks for letting me brag a little about my kids. I am just so proud of them sometimes.

**Telephus44** · 04-02-2006, 02:05 PM

DH and I have been talking about this for a while. Here's our situation - we've been without a television set since Oct of 05. We decided that since our life is so much better without it, that we're just not going to get one.

I am pregnant, and we're wondering how this will affect our kid. Obviously, not having to watch a whole parade of commercials should be a good thing, but we're wondering how s/he will react when they go to other people's houses and see their toys and TV shows.

I mean, we don't plan on getting a TV set just for our kid, but I can't help wondering how its going to play out. I really don't want my kid to grow up asking for every toy they see on TV and thinking that they have to dress a certain way just because of what they see.