Russell Heimlich passed along the following ad that seeks to plant the seeds of consumerism in our children, making the task of financial literacy more difficult further down the road. “You never run out of money!” Indeed?
Here’s what The Consumerist had to say when they wrote about this toy last Monday:
Fashion Fever Shopping Boutique, the correctly named Barbie toy, features a built-in credit card swiper and a life-size credit card for young children to use when buying outfits for their dolls. According to the Amazon website, “Once the balance hits zero, it will reset so you can continue to shop.”
We think Mattel should introduce the “Dang, I Grew Up” Barbie playset, where Barbie spends her entire paycheck on Rent-a-Center furniture while trying to make the minimum payments on her dozen or so 30% interest rate cards. But then again, since this is Barbie, once her credit score hit 300 or so the playset would probably just bump it back up to 800. Responsibility is so for nerds and foster children.
I’m going to have to make a collection of these ads I hate.
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Don’t worry — they got what they deserved:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/chinese_authorities_execute_10
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I found a MUCH better version of the video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvZRcJHRtOE
My favorite line is still: “You never run out of money!”
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Thanks, Jared. I’ve swapped the better quality video into the post.
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J.D.,
I’m totally on board with the “Ads I hate” list. I have a 10 month old daughter and part of me trembles in fear at having to explain this stuff to her. Her Mother and I have dug out of massive credit holes ourselves and fixed up some other recent money problems, so I know we can pass it on. I am still scared of the Little Girl Marketing machine that she will meet in the next 3 years.
Thanks
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From the time my children were toddlers, every time I pull out my ATM card or a credit card I tell them “This helps the store take the money out of our bank account. Papa and I only use this when we already saved the money to buy something.”
So far it is working. I am hopeful that 18 years of this will help them when they have to manage their own financial lives.
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Wow, this is even worse than my arch nemesis the pixel chicks who’s motto on their box is “Work, Earn, Spend”.
Along with Pixel Chicks and Bratz, I think Barbie just moved on to my blacklist.
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This one is awesome, totally cracked me up; I also like/hate the debit card commercials where a guy tries to pay cash for a lunch and everybody stops and looks at him like he’s insane.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVdfeSxJ2nM
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I really liked one of the comments from the consumerist.com. Someone suggested sending the child a bill for the barbie credit card, charging interest, and eventually repossessing possessions so the child really learned how credit works.
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Didn’t they have this toy and then get rid of it? Maybe they brought it back or maybe I was mistaken and they got rid of something else. I know “math is hard” Barbie has been retired.
Pity, she’d go well with this. “Math is hard, I don’t like to count, so I just use my magic card. Wheeee!”
Followed by debtor’s prison Barbie.
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Make that collection. It’s a good idea.
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I think the new Monopoly is worse! It markets the game as being “faster” because instead of counting cash, you swipe your debit/credit card. So many things wrong:
1. The math learning element removed because there is no counting of money.
2. Because of the lack of cash, they inflated the prices of the properties.
3. Now the prices are more realistic, but you are purchasing with a credit card!!!
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Engadget on the new monopoly: http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/24/monopoly-ditches-cash-goes-plastic/
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What the crap? Electronic monopoly? That game taught me to make change.
One good lesson kids might learn from it–debit cards only have a certain amount of money on them. They’re not magic. When you run out of money you can’t use them so you have to be careful about what you buy.
But the whole increasing and decreasing piles of money, that so much more meaningful.
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Wow! I had not seen that ad. Horrible! It’s unfortunate that shopping is looked at as a hobby or even a lifestyle. Beside the never ending spending limit, it seems this would just tell kids that you go out and shop for fun, not because you need to buy clothes for work or something.
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I completely agree with you. This type of advertising is completely irksome. But it also annoys me that it is directed at little girls, and brainwashing young girls about what they think every girl should want.
Do they have product out there on a similar level for little boys? I know that this sentiment of consumerism is engrained in our culture regardless of gender, but I know looking back where most most of money has gone over the years, and sadly to say, a majority of it is clothes and accessories. Geeze, I’m still trying to get over this mindset. Every time I feel blue, my pick me up is shopping.
I also had no clue about the new monopoly game. That is so sad. I’m pretty sure that I part of my money understanding came from playing monopoly when I was little. I would play with my grandfather, who would never let me win. Would always tell me that I needed to learn how to manage my money better, and that I couldn’t always win. (Let me point out that I was only 7 or 8!!)
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Surely, its not really the advert that’s the problem but the toy itself. I think if I am ever unlucky enough to have children I’ll be modelling their access to tv and toys on the Amish.
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That commercial is a bit worse since it’s targeting kids but another finance-related one that annoys me greatly is one for Edward Jones (not sure if it only a Canadian one or if you have it in the US too).
It features a doctor talking on the phone explaining a surgery. It then cuts to a guy at home, holding a scalpel and looking unsure of himself. The announcer then says the tagline (punchline?)” “You wouldn’t try this yourself, why would you try to invest yourself?”
The fact that they try to scare people into thinking that investing is as dangerous as open heart surgery ticks me off greatly.
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So am I the only one that learned money management more from playing poker with my Grandfather than Monopoly? And you better bet I would have to bring my own to the table to play… No lending here!
…
I think I had a weird childhood. But I am good at poker, so maybe it all worked out.
I think I’ll have to go pick up one of the old Monopoly versions before they run out. Maybe I’ll pick up two… Might be worth some money in ten years or so!
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I recently saw a large poster ad in the Pittsburgh (US) airport that stopped me in my tracks. It was a poster of a lovely young woman (naturally)and the poster’s tag line read “I am what I buy”. It was an ad for the Skymall catalog and the woman had a Skymall logo tattoo on her bicep.
I wish I’d had a camera with me.
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When i first saw this commercial, i thought about how they’re teaching kids to spend a fortune on credit.
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“This one is awesome, totally cracked me up; I also like/hate the debit card commercials where a guy tries to pay cash for a lunch and everybody stops and looks at him like he’s insane.”
I hate that one too, for two reasons: What on earth is wrong with using cash to buy lunch? Why is a card better? And two, it furthers this culture of high-speed everything. Now you can’t do anything “slow” or you’ll annoy people.
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My in-laws have that new monopoly game. Kinda ironic since they won’t actually use a credit card anywhere else because of their spending issues.
Let’s just say that my kid will be playing traditional paper-based monopoly. I don’t care if the prices are raised to be more realistic, but I want them to learn about money and how to count it.
That commercial is incredible. Reminds me of the talking Malibu Stacy doll from The Simpsons. “I wish they taught shopping at school!” and “Let’s buy make up so the boys will like us!”. Good times.
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[...] Thanks for visiting!My first two “Ads I Hate” posts seem to have struck a nerve (1, 2). You folks really hate the consumerist mentality these ads promote. From the e-mail and comments I [...]
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