The Marketing of Children’s Toys: Critical Perspectives on Children’s Consumer Culture

Description

This book offers rich critical perspectives on the marketing of a variety of toys, brands, and product categories. Topics include marketing undertaken by specific children’s toy brands such as American Girl, Barbie, Disney, GoldieBlox, Fisher-Price, and LEGO, and marketing trends characterizing broader toy categories such as on-trend grotesque toys; toy firearms; minimalist toys; toyetics; toys meant to offer diverse representation; STEM toys; and unboxing videos. Toy marketing warrants a sustained scholarly critique because of toys’ cultural significance and their roles in children’s lives, as well as the industry’s economic importance. Discourses surrounding toys―including who certain toys are meant for and what various toys and brands can signify about their owners’ identities―have implications for our understandings of adults’ expectations of children and of broader societal norms into which children are being socialized. Preface Contents Notes on Contributors List of Figures List of Tables Chapter 1: Critiquing Children’s Consumer Culture: An Introduction to The Marketing of Children’s Toys The Rise of Toys and Children’s Consumer Culture The Toy Industry: Status and Criticisms Critical Perspectives on Toy Marketing and Consumer Culture Chapters Conclusion References Chapter 2: Playing with Fire: Marketing Youth Toy and Working Firearms as Social Problem and Social Panacea Toys Guns and Youth Firearms as Morally Controversial Leisure Bull’s-Eye: Early Trends in the Marketing of Toy and Youth Firearms Trigger Warning: Support for Toy Guns Wanes After the 1960s Blurring the Lines Between Toys and Tools: Contemporary Firearms Culture and Regulation Current Trends in Toy Gun and Youth Firearm Marketing: Transforming a Social Problem into a Social Panacea New Products: The Increasing Commercial Availability of Non-powder Firearms Toy Gun Realism and Fanciful Youth Rifles A Textual Analysis of Exhibitor Promotional Materials at the 2019 NRA Annual Convention Relationality and Knowledge Fun Realism Conclusion References Chapter 3: Reclaiming the Living Room: The Play Value of Grotesque Toys Reading Revolt Plastigoop, Pustules, and Gak Analysis Discussion: Embracing the Grotesque and Abject Conclusion References Chapter 4: Playing with Minimalism: How Parents Are Sold on High-End Toys and Childhood Simplicity Feminine Labor, “mommy blogging,” “mommy minimalism” The “Instagram Look” and Keeping the Perfect Home The Appearance of Simplicity: Conscious Consumerism and Conspicuous Consumption Purchasing Simplicity at a Premium: Toy Companies and the Rhetoric of Selling Minimalism Purchasing Freedom from Desire: Spirituality and Time Reflection References Chapter 5: Imported Toys in Indonesia: Parental Consumer Literacy, Purchasing Decisions, and Globalization Literature Review Globalization Literacy Findings Consumption Literacy in Two Generations of Parents Parents’ Views Regarding the Classification of Types of Toys Parents’ Preferences for Imported Toys Conclusion References Chapter 6: Unwrapping Toy TV: Ryan’s World and the Toy Review Genre’s Impact on Children’s Culture Toy Review Channels: A YouTube Genre Toy Influencers: From YouTube to Mainstream Media Ryan’s World: Toy Reviewer and Child Influencer Literature Review Talking About Television and Toys Scholarship on Children’s Toy Review Videos Method and Sample Ryan’s World: From Toy Box to Television A Surprise Success: The Early Days of Ryan’s World Developing and Diversifying: Centering Character Pocket.watch, Licensing, and the Product-Based YouTube Channel The Transmedia YouTube Star: Ryan on TV and Game Consoles Toy Review Channels Beyond the Toy: Expanding Influencer Identity Conclusion References Chapter 7: Toys That Train the Tots: Fisher-Price’s Smart Toys in the Digital Age The Toy Industry and the Allure of Smart Toys Fisher-Price and the Digital Commodification of Educational Play Case Studies: Product, Marketing, and Customer Review Analysis Linkimals: Smart Toys for Babies Laugh & Learn: Smart Toys for Toddlers Think & Learn: Smart Toys for Preschoolers and Kindergarteners Discussion Conclusion References Chapter 8: Commodifying Culture: Mattel’s and Disney’s Marketing Approaches to “Latinx” Toys and Media Trials and Errors: Mattel and Disney Do “Diversity” Latinidad Around the World Ambiguous and Amalgamated Latinidad Trademarking Traditions and Historical Figures Conclusion References Chapter 9: A Toy for Thoughtful Parents: The Rhetorical Building Blocks of LEGO’s Reputation Building a Reputation Creative Toys and Cultural Capital Safely Nurturing Creativity in the Samsonite Era The Golden Age of LEGO LEGO: Friends or Frenemies? Relying on Reputation Giving Girls What They Want Conclusion References Chapter 10: “Smart Is the New Cool”: Project MC2 and the Marketing of STEM Lifestyles to Tween Girl Project Retail Shelf Space Livin’ the STEM Life References Chapter 11: Hacking Girl Power: GoldieBlox Play Sets and Material Rhetoric STEM and GoldieBlox as Text GoldieBlox, Girl Power, and Criticism Material Rhetoric and Toys Analysis Reframing Girlishness Building an Apprenticeship Conclusion References Chapter 12: Toy Discourses and Gendered Roles in “The Most Gender Equal Country in the World”: A Critical Cultural Analysis of Norwegian Toy Catalogues from 2011 to 2018 Theoretical Approach: A Critical Cultural Perspective on Toy Catalogues Gender Equality and the Norwegian Context Methodological Approach Limitations Analysis and Discussion Conclusions References Chapter 13: Unpacking Logan: The Construction of Masculinity in the American Girl Boy Doll American Girl Brand Identity Literature Review Method Product Development: Product Design Product Development: Narrative Construction Audience Reception: Logan’s Place in the World of American Girl Conclusion References Chapter 14: The Politics of Barbie’s Curvy New Body: Marketing Mattel’s Fashionistas Line Barbie: An Early History Feminist Scholars Challenge Barbie Barbie in the 2000s: A Changing Marketplace Mattel’s Launch of the Fashionistas and Curvy Barbie: An Analysis A Focus on the Curves The Politics of “Fat” Conclusion Works Cited Index