Not just for kids
Wednesday, August 11, 2004 - 08:07 PM
A story broke after the show about Toys R Us getting its etch-a-sketch all shaken up by Wal mart.
The upshot is Toys R US, a company some retail experts consider to be the first specialty big box store is exiting its core business, the selling of
toys.
This is actually a perfect zeitgeist moment. Toys R US moving away from the toy biz is tells us a lot about Wal Mart, but also a little about how the notion of childhood has changed. When Toys R Us began its expansion, coinciding with the post war suburban boom it embodied the concept of what childhood was about. Nothing serious, just selling Toys. Toys didn't have to be good for you, they just had to be fun.
Now most of the Toy stores you see (including the Toys R US owned
"Imaginarium" stores ) are there to assuage conflicted adults that buying a toy isn't really about buying a toy its about LEARNING, or STIMULATION,or something other than just plain fun.
The very same baby boomers who scooped up GI Joes and Barbie from the
aisles of Toys R Us want MORE for their own kids, so Zainy Briany and the
Discovery Zone abound.
The key symbol in all of this is the backwards R in Toys R US. That would
be unheard of today, it would be said to foster ignorance, or possible be
called insensitive to dyslexics. And its also telling that Toys R Us is now JUST going to be Babies R US. Babies aren't asked to adopt some work ethic into their play, though Baby Einstein and other "educational" baby activities are trending in this direction. But the concept of what it means to be a baby hasn't changed as much as what it means to be a kid. Also the first Babies R US didn't open until 1996 so that store is more relevant to the baby experience of today than Toys R US understands the child of today.
Finally Geoffrey the Toys R Us spokesanimal is a silly choice. Giraffes are famous for not making a sound, so having him talk seemed a little weird in the commercials, unlike the much more logical talking Tiger who
sells corn flakes. Tigers growl, Tony growls, makes sense. Geoffrey -
what's with that guy? Is he a kid, why am i Listening to a kid? Weird.
And its not just me -- look how low Geoffrey ranks in the "am I annoying"
survey of anthropomorphized animals.
Worse than even Spuds McKenzie. Let me say that again, worse than Spuds.
The company was doomed.
---Mike Pesca
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