Gross Commercialization

[Singermom]

I'm not really looking for answers...I just need to vent on something.

Why does everyone think that ALL kids like everything exactly the same?

For instance, I was shopping for toothpaste. Since my girls don't really like grown-up toothpaste ("TOOOOOO MINTY!!!"), we were looking through the kids' toothpaste. The choices: Dora the Exporer, or Spongebob Squarepants.

Neither of the girls can STAND either of them, and won't watch them on a bet, and certainly don't want to own anything with them on it.

I searched and finally found a tube of plain kids' paste (Crest, I think).

It just bugs me that absolutely everything has to have the latest cartoon character or book character on them! I really wish there was more plain items. My husband and I are trying to teach our girls to shop carefully, and it's so hard when they're not given decent choices because it's assumed that ALL little girls LOVE Dora, or ALL kids think that SS is so funny.

Sorry about this...I just needed to vent.

 

[mstrohm]

It is sad how commercial everything is. I guess people buy that stuff otherwise they would not pay the royalties to put those pictures on the product. You are one of the counter culture warriors!

 

[hope10]

I feel you on this because I went through the same thing. My daughter loves Dora and my son likes some characters, there was a time that I just wanted a plain toothpaste that they both could share. I had previously bought them character toothpate and they, especially my daughter, who is only 2, wasted them. I got the crest one. Almost everything for the children are character based and their prices are ridiculous to the point that they should be illegal. Also, hubby and I do not like SS and don't find him funny and we refuse to let our children watch it because it does nothing for our children.

 

[`Raine]

This bothers me to. We don't have regular tv, and I'm trying to limit my child's exposure to television and all of the commercials and marketing, but it is hard to even find books without a tv show or movie character or some type of product tie-in. The easiest place to find unbranded stuff are some of the natural, hippie type places, but many of those products are more expensive than the mass-marketed alternatives.

 

[homeofmew]

yeah everything is commercialized.
many things are done to attracts kids attention like candy at the checkout line.
or a cartoon a kid might watch on tv on a bouncy ball I don't know.

 

[ChildByGrace]

I agree - we are very careful not to buy things that are like that. DS doesn't really watch the tv so he doesn't realize yet about the whole area of things that you buy can be from tv. I especially dont like buying clothes with tv charactors on them. We will however buy things that are based on books - like Thomas the Tank Engine.
The thing that i find really annoying is that ds will point our various tv charactors and talk about them as if he watches them - i always feel like saying 'he doesn't send all day watching tv' lol. he has picked up the names from books and, i'm guessing, playschool.