Toys R Racism. :(

[beccatoria]

So something weird happened the other day. I was in Toys R Us (as you are when you're bored and have nowhere else to go), with a friend. And his girlfriend texted him and said could he look out for a present she could give to a kid she knows who's in hospital, since we were there anyway, and she loves Disney stuff, and Jasmine is her favourite

Comments

[gonzo21]

That's... geezus. Do you think it's deliberate racism, or reflecting racism because the non-white dolls maybe just don't sell?

You'd think if there was profit in it...

Yeah, that's pretty horrendous.

[beccatoria]

I honestly have no idea. I mean, the depressing truth is they probably don't sell as well as some others, but equally, I mean, I dunno, I get they're "classics" but Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are hardly all over the place in marketing these days, right? I mean, those are older films even if they're still popular. But even so, I find it hard to believe that the discrepancy would warrant nothing in their stock?

(I mean, obviously, I should note that I don't subscribe to the notion that capitalism should exclusively dictate customer choice, and I think those dolls could sell awful numbers and there'd still be a duty to make them available because customer preferences don't exist in a cultural vacuum, etc., etc., but what I mean is, I find it hard to believe that those dolls sold so badly that would even be a viable commercial excuse? That having even a smaller selection would hurt sales

[gonzo21]

And of course there is a chicken and egg argument with the sales perspective, perhaps they don't sell as well, but they're never going to sell well if they're not front and center in shop displays

[beccatoria]

Yeah, Disney are total evil marketing geniuses, which I think is part of why I'm so mad about this, when in other circumstances, I'd just be apathetic? Because, like, they could be using their power for GOOD. They're good enough at this marketing crap that they could take characters that conventional wisdom says shouldn't sell because of public prejudice and still turn them into iconic characters with enough patience and determination and do really good stuff for breaking down these bullshit stereotypes in the minds of the little girls who adore their movies.

And I guess I feel that by putting characters like Tiana and Jasmine and Mulan and Pocahontas in their official line-up there's an element of them saying, "Yes! That's what we're doing!" but then you look at stuff like this, and...it doesn't mean crap, so I feel like they're lying about it, which is...well okay, it's obviously not worse than if they didn't include them in their line-up in the first place, but it feels...more spitefully dishonest

[daybreak777]

Is it all Toys R Us stores? We should check our local stores and write letters!

I checked Toysrus.com and they had small Jasmine dolls. They had two Mulan dolls too. I'm not sure about the stores, though.

[beccatoria]

That's interesting - when I looked online at the UK website they had Jasmine dolls and dressups in their selection, but nothing at all for Mulan or Pocahontas. For Tiana they only had DVDs and books, no dolls. Maybe also a regional difference then... I suspected it might be my store being dodgy or something, sadly looks like it's Britain in general being dodgy. I do wonder how much the stores get to dictate the levels of stock they carry. I mean, I'm not against that in principle - there'll be variation on what sells by area and you want to cater to your customer base, but just, within reason, you know?

BAH HUMBUG!

I really am curious as to the sort of response I'll get though... I'll let you know!

[daybreak777]

sadly looks like it's Britain in general being dodgy.
Aww. It may be supply and demand. It's really hard to know. As for Tiana, that was not a good movie. I was very disappointed in it and if a movie isn't good or popular . . . .

Aladdin was great, though so yay, Jasmine! And gosh, Pocahontas seems like a million years ago! Time for a re-release on that film!

Yeah, keep us posted!

(Here are some pixar type cookies. :-) I had no trouble finding a Merida doll for a small friend of mine. But that movie just came out so I can understand that. In five years? Probably won't be around as much.)

[beccatoria]

Yeah, I've heard that movie wasn't so good, though I haven't actually seen it yet (though someone below liked it? And I've heard mixed stuff about Brave, too. I really need to see these for myself!)

My favourite was always tied between The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. I watched those more than I'd like to admit, and probably still know 90% of the words to ALL the songs. I think I probably drove my parents mad...

As to Merida - yeah, I suspect the minimal merchandise that was there for her was due to her being a recent release. I doubt she'll end up with the marketing push that, say, Rapunzel got from Tangled.

[amnisias]

I'm not sure whether the deduction should be Toys R Us is racist or 'UK costumers are racists'. But it's definitely more fun to have a go at mulit-million dollor companies rather than the population at large. Since Disney produces the dolls I am assuming it's a question of demand.

[beccatoria]

Yeah, it's a question with a depressing answer either way. Disney MUST manufacture this stuff for their own stores, so I can only assume that Toys R Us made the decision to stock the recent Princesses and...only the other white ones, presumably under the justification that those are the ones that sell. :(

[beccatoria]

Ugh, yeah I imagine it must be pretty depressing to notice all this stuff on an ongoing basis. :( It's also a little depressing to learn that this isn't an isolated "my store is crap/was having a crap week," thing (which I suspected, but you know, hope springs eternal...)

But DUDE that story about the Princess and the Frog colouring book, that's just amazingly awful to the point it's...well I want to laugh at how absurd it is. o.O Cus, you know, they'll give you the right colour for the frog.

Thanks for telling me that, though; super interesting, if saddening.

[beccatoria]

Cool - to my great shame, I haven't actually seen The Princess and the Frog OR Tangled OR Brave yet, because I suck. But I'd heard that it wasn't that good, so it's nice to have an alternate opinion.

I bet they sell all the toys at the Disney Store, for instance. This is probably an issue of what Toys R Us uses its limited space to stock, but just, blargh. It feels pretty soulless when you walk into the aisle and spend about five minutes slowly realising that it is 100% totally white. :(

What about kids whose favourites are Jasmine and Tiana!