And rampant sexist marketing strikes again...

[ladyaeryn]

The semi-good news? Presumably as part of promoting the upcoming season premiere of The Clone Wars, the next round of Happy Meal toys are going to be TCW-themed.

The catch? They're for the boys. Apparently the girls' toys are frickin' Strawberry Shortcake.

Pfft. Whatever. Gimme the Star Wars toys, bitches!

Product lines like Her Universe

Comments

[jedisakora]

George probably had a hand in this.. He likes to screw over the females in his series *grumble grumble*. My brothers will be ecstatic though.

[ladyaeryn]

I somehow doubt George had a truly active hand in this (I always got the impression the merchandising was one branch of SW he pretty much left in the hands of his subordinates - I mean, Underoos? Come on), though that really doesn't make the marketing trend any less frustrating.

[jedisakora]

True. He does need to give his lackey some really strong females to work with though. The new comic series with a female main character is giving me hope though that the women will start to shine more. ^^

[ladyaeryn]

I think SW has always had strong female characters - they're just incredibly outnumbered by the male characters, which undoubtedly lends to the 'boys-only club' mentality. Even now most of the Leia and Padmé merchandise you see out there is them at their most objectified: Leia in the gold bikini; Padmé in the tight, ripped white battle suit. Because of course all SW fans are horny boys, and have no interest in seeing the heroines in anything but tight/revealing clothes. :P Celebration V was purportedly all about TESB, but most of the official Leia merchandise was still related to that stupid bikini.

Shows like TCW are a step in the right direction, fleshing out characters like Ahsoka and Ventress and Barriss and numerous other strong/complex women. Still a long way to go, though - since apparently marketers think only 8 year old boys watch TCW.

[ladyaeryn]

Me either.

[frostbit_sky]

Typical.

I hope some little boys out there asks for Strawberry Shortcake instead, and girls asks for TCW.

:P

[ladyaeryn]

That would be awesome. ;) I doubt I'll bother with the Happy Meals unless I go with someone else, because I don't much care for McD's... but if I do go, you bet your butt I'm asking for the CW toys.

[frostbit_sky]

Maybe I will go once. The rare, rare times I do get McD's, I get the Happy Meals anyway. They better have Anakin or Padmé.

[ladyaeryn]

I lucked out the last time they did the Happy Meal thing. I ended up with the Padmé and Ahsoka toys. Might have been nice to get an Anakin set and make it my CW OT3, but oh well.

[lazypadawan]

Aw geez, that's rich. I have to specifically ask for the boy's toys when I order :?. Maybe that's something to post on Her Universe's wall on Facebook...

[callarkhamquick]

Aw man, you Americans get the best deals. Though I would demand one, boobies be damned.