Retailers, toy makers re-examine marketing
By Jessica Aldon
The Towerlight (Towson U.)
11/26/2001

(U-WIRE) TOWSON, Md. — Since the events of Sept. 11, parents have been faced with the difficult task of explaining terrorism to their children. As the holiday season quickly approaches, even the toy industry has been forced to reconsider the products being designed for kids.

Many toy and department stores have evaluated their products to decide if items are still fit to sell to the public.

While most retailers have not pulled merchandise from the shelves, some have deemed certain products inappropriate.

Amy Sanns, head of media relations for Target Stores, said Target did not have to pull any toys from its shelves, but the company did take time to review what was on the sales floor.

"We reviewed all the toys on our shelves, including Halloween toys, and decided our products are fine," Sanns said. "Target is a family oriented store and wouldn't put offensive things on the shelves anyway."

Lisa Class, manager of KayBee Toys in Harford Mall, said KayBee went through a similar process, and, while most of the toys remained on the shelves, the store did pull the video game "Air Force Delta" for Play Station 2.

"It was pulled for offensive material," Class said.

Margie Dietz, a lab technician at Franklin Square Hospital, said, if her 9-year-old son Kevin wanted to get something that promoted violence, she would think twice before buying it for him.

"If he wanted something violent I wouldn't buy it for him because I wouldn't want to be reminded of Sept. 11," Dietz said.

Susan Nuemeister, a kindergarten teacher at Essex elementary school, said marketing toys differently wouldn't impact her because her kids, 8-year-old Danielle and 7-year-old Stephanie, aren't really into violent toys.

Sophomore psychology major Ryan Schurtz said he thinks the toy stores would only take toys off the shelves so that the parents wouldn't worry that their kids were being influenced by them.

"I think they do it for the parents and so kids don't ask questions about the toys," Schurtz said.

Some parents and students feel that children aren't old enough to understand the link between violent toys and the recent tragedies.

"I don't think Kevin is old enough to put it together," Dietz said, "but as a parent I would make the connection if the toy was violent."

In addition to evaluating toys, junior health major Jen Bernadzikowski said that numerous movies played on broadcast and cable television have had questionable content removed.

"I've noticed movies on regular TV took out words that referred to terrorism," she said.

Bernadzikowski added that it probably wouldn't make a difference if certain toys were not taken off the shelves.

"I don't think it would make a difference because kids already have the toys," she said.

Companies such as Fisher Price have come out with new toys that represent heroes from Sept. 11. Fisher Price created a toy called "Rescue Workers" featuring firefighters and police officers.

Susan Neumeister, a kindergarten teacher at Essex Elementary School, said she thinks the concept is a great one for kids.

"I think it's interesting that they have come out with this toy now, and that real firefighters and police officers promoted it," she said.

Another concern for those in the retail industry has been the economy. Malls and toy stores are slow in sales at the moment, but managers expect business to pick up as the holiday season gets closer.

But Class doesn't expect any problems over the holiday shopping season and KayBee isn't doing anything differently to promote their toys.

"Black Friday [the day after Thanksgiving] is our busiest day and we expect to do a lot of business," Class said. "Right now it's slow, but I think customers are just waiting for the sales to begin."

Copyright ©2001 The Towerlight via UWire

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