Toy ads have always been an
integral port of Saturday mor
ning programming, particular
ly in the weeks before
Christmas. But for the past few
years, some people have com
plained that they can't tell the
ads from the programs.
The problem is some of the
shows’ animated characters are
toys. Critics claim programs
such as “He-Man and the
Masters of the Universe.”
aren't programs at all. but
thinly-disguised toy
advertisements.
The examples are numerous.
In Eugene children can see at
least 11 toy-linked shows,
from "Care Bears” to “Pound
Puppies.”
And like the age-old
chicken-and-egg question, it’s
often impossible to tell which
conies first — the show or the
toy.
The idea of featuring a toy in
a program isn’t new. The
Federal Communications
Commission put a stop in 1969
to an ABC show, “Hot
Wheels." which featured toy
cars made by Mattel Toys.
But by 1983. 13 toy-linked
progams were coming across
the airwaves, prompting Ac
tion for Children’s Television, i
a Boston-based lobbying
group, to file a complaint with
the FCC. The complaint charg
ed the commission with
violating its own guidelines
regulating children's program
ming. adopted in 1974.
But rather than move in, the
FCC backed off. In 1984 the
FCC weakened the 1974
policy, opting to allow the
television industry to virtually
decide for itself what type of
programming it would offer
children.
Now. according to ACT
President Peggy Charren.
more than 60 children’s shows
are tie-ins for toys.
And toy-linked shows do
“create a demand.’' says Mark
Haag, regional manager of
Toys “R” Us, a national toy
store chain. *if they like the
TV show.. .they're going to
be wanting some of that
product."
Children ask for particular
toys and brand names, ami
television ads play a direct role
in that. Haag adds.
"TV advertising has a
tremendous impact on what the
child asks for — they want
what they see on TV.”
According to Charrcn, sell
ing Shirley Temple dolls in
spired by the child’s movie
success wasn't the sume
because “the people writing
the movies were not trying to
sell dolls."
Toy makers also are fully
aware of the implications of
tie-ins, Charrcn says, citing a
Hasbro Industry advertisement
in a trade journal that predicted
its sales would jump as sixin as
a show based on a Hasbro toy
was aired.
"It s not like they don't
know what they're doing —
they know what they’re do
ing," she says.
Toy-based shows limit
diversity, a critical element of
good programming, Charrcn
adds. For one thing, all the
shows must be animated
because toys can’t be made to
talk otherwise.
"It's made it very hard for
people who can't afford cable
or home video to find anything
else," she says.
And if it’s hard to tell the
commercials from the pro
grams. in some cases it’s hard
to tell the program production
companies from the toy
manufacturers.
For example, the company
that produces the G.I. Joe car
toon, Sunbow Productions, is a
subsidiary of Griffm/Bacai, the
agency that handles advertising
for Hasbro’s 0.1. Joe doll.
And Hasbro owns Claster Pro
ductions, the company that
distributes the 0.1. Joe
cartoon.
It must be working. Haag
says even though the product
isn't new, "G.l. Joe and his
accessories are still doing ex
tremely well.”
And according to Charren.
Mattel Toys also has set up a
television production
company.
"So what’s happened is
we’ve given over children’s
programming to the toy com
panies," Charren says. "What
they’re (toy makers! doing
now is coming out of the
closet."
Kathy Thorpe. Mattel’s
manager of marketing and
public relations, says she
doesn’t know if Mattel owns a
production company.
But she does say cartoons
and corresponding toys should
be treated as separate entities
"A bail product line cannot
support a bad TV show and
vice versa," she says. "There
have been cases where the pro
duct has flourished and the TV
show has failed."
Thorpe admits television
shows do increase the toys’ ex
posure. But she defends the
quality and entertainment value
of the programs.
For example. Mattel is picky
about how its Hc-Mon action
figure is portrayed in the cor
responding cartoon, she says.
He-Man never kills anyone,
and every show contains a
moral lesson, she says.
And He-Man and the
Masters of the Universe toys
were solid sellers before the
show began, she adds.
Mattel makes three toys that
have their own shows, accor
ding to Thorpe, and a show for
a product already on the
market is planned for next
Continued on Page 12
secretary of the Oregon Con
sumer League “A lot of it is
not out and out dishonest
Just ‘huckery’ and gyrations
and pushing you into paying
higher prices "
Another problem during
the holiday season. Smith
says, is the influx of mail
order and catalog companies
that charge exorbitant prices
"An awful lot of these mail
order and catalog companies
K»ck the price up and have a
handling charge, and you
darn well they don’t need that
much money," he says
Although many people
today find the
Christmas season to
be increasingly meaningless,
very few understand why that
is
"They don't realize that the
gift giving has only been a
modern phenomenon, and
that adults didn't used to look
for their happiness in that
context," Robinson says
"It depends on how old
they are People younger
than 50 or 60 will only have
known a commercial
Christmas, and they kinda get
defensive when you attack it
because that's what Christmas
is And they don't know what
would replace it." she says
One of the main drawbacks
of the commercialism of
Christmas for individuals,
besides the obvious financial
burden, is poor mental
health Tom Boerman, a
supervisor in the crisis depart
merit at Eugene's White Bird
Clinic, believes the buy. buy.
buy syndrome plays a big
role
"In some people's minds it
seems to become a reflection
of not necessarily their
goodness or their worth, but if
they don't have that ability to
buy. buy. buy, it creates some
inadequacies You know, the
guy who calls and is feeling
very sickly bummed because
he can't buy his daughter
what seems to be a sufficient
amount of Christmas
presents. Boerman says
Through their workshops
and interviews. Robinson and
Staeheli have found a dif
ference in how men and
women approach the com
mercialism of the holidays
Men act passive about the
Christmas season and possess
more of a childlike attitude yet
are more concerned about
the commercialism, Robinson
says
"We find that women gets
so wrapped up in the produc
tion and all of the amazing
wonderful things they can do
and buy. that they really can't
be apart from it as much as
men and really aren't critical
of it," Robinson says
"There's a tremendous
amount of pressure, par
ticularly on women still, to be
responsible for making sure
all the right people receive
gifts," says Mariam Johnson,
acting director of the Center
for the Study of Women in
Society
Another effect of the com
mercialism is the decline in
the spirituality and religious
appeal traditionally associated
with the season It's especially
ironic when one takes into ac
count the fact that gift giving
has Christian roots
"For people who've always
looked to Christmas as a
spiritual kind of thing, the
more commercialized
Christmas has become over
the years, the more the
spiritual base for Christmas
has been eroded," Boerman
says
"People put together real
high hopes for what this time
of year means to them, and
it's kind of epitomized in that
period of opening presents
And when that’s over with,
there still remains in a lot of
people’s minds a void There
still is a certain emptiness," he
says.
"Getting something and
giving something is part of the
season, really It's inspired by
the reality of the season But
it can become an end in
itself.’’ says Rev Carlos
Rustia. a Roman Catholic
priest at the Newman Center
According to Rustia there
are some things people can
do to combat the empty feel
ing they may experience
"I preached the first Sun
Continued on Page \2
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