Toy Tuesday: Unhappy about Happy Meals

Today's Globe and Mail reports that a Washington-based "consumer advocacy" group is threatening to file a lawsuit against McDonald's, charging that the fast food chain ‘unfairly and deceptively' markets toys to children through its Happy Meals.

As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing unfair or deceptive about McDonald's approach to marketing to kids.

Kids are bombarded with all types of messages from an early age, and with technological advances, the frequency and sophistication of these message is growing enormously and quickly. Early in my career, I learned to trust the judgment of parents in making decisions about the media their kids consume and the products they use. While there are no doubt some parents who don't always make the best decisions for themselves or their kids, we're fortunate to live in a society where governments, courts, and lawyers aren't usually making decisions for us.

Toy Tuesday: Monster High - A New Approach for Mattel?

An interesting story in LA Business Journal talks about Mattel's upcoming launch of Monster High, a new toy line and intellectual property that features characters based on teen children of werewolves, zombies and other creatures "which the company has described as 'Grease' meets 'Addams Family,' because it’s a combination of the gothic-inspired 'Twilight' movies and Disney’s tween-friendly 'High School Musical' franchise."

Mattel seems to have done a good job putting the program together, but I agree with industry analyst Sean McGowan that the line could be either a huge hit or a huge failure.

Interestingly, the article makes several references to the fact that Monster High is "the first in-house toy brand the company has launched since Hot Wheels in 1968." I don't know where LA Business Journal got their information, but I can remember several brands from my time at Mattel in the late 1980s and early 1990s that were developed in-house, though none of them exist today. Just to check, I contacted toy consultant Lynn Rosenblum, who is quoted in the article and worked at Mattel when I did. She verified that many brands from Cherry Merry Muffin (a small doll line) to Masters of the Universe (a hugely successful boys' action line) were Mattel in-house initiatives. Looks like somebody is rewriting toy industry history.

Cherry Merry Muffin

Masters of the Universe

Regardless of whether it was created in-house at Mattel or came from elsewhere, Monster High's success will depend on how it resonates with kids. By the end of the year, we'll all know if it's a hit or a miss.

Marketing Monday: Print ad simplicity, Print ad confusion

This week, I'm calling out two print ads, one for its simplicity and one for the confusion (deceit?) that it conveys.

First, the good:

click to enlarge

This ad from Modern Dog Magazine speaks for itself, does a great job of communicating features and benefits, and throws in a little humor too.


Now, the bad:

click to enlarge

This ad is typically of the types of information provided by many Canadian retailers. Even though the metric system has been in place in Canada since the 1970s, this retailer uses three different systems of measurement for the same class of products. Don't know if they're deliberately making it confusing or if they're just lazy. Is it just me, or is it difficult to compare the value you get with each of these products?

Toy Tuesday: This is What's Up, Doc!

Of all the brands I have encountered in the world of toys and licensing, Looney Tunes was one of the most rewarding, successful, and fun projects to work on. The New York Times reported last week that "Warner Bros. is embarking on a five-alarm rescue effort for Looney Tunes", the franchise often called one of the studio's crown jewels.

When I was a Senior Product Manager at Tyco Toys, we held the master toy license for Looney Tunes, and I was responsible for coordinating all the efforts across the program for all the different brand teams at Tyco who were developing and marketing Looney Tunes toys. It was both interesting and challenging to align boys, girls, games, activities, and mini vehicles in an organization where brand teams were accustomed to working independently.

click to enlarge

The Looney Tunes brand itself was challenging to market as toys. It doesn't have a clear focus toward either boys and girls, and while the characters have always been well known and well loved, they're not necessarily kids' favorites. Competing against other brands with humor components like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Spongebob Squarepants is a big challenge.

Despite these challenges, Tyco was able to achieve some success due to a well integrated retail and marketing program as well as a great working relationship with the people at Warner Bros. Consumer Products, from whom I learned what it is to be a demanding yet fair licensor.

The New York Times article implies that Looney Tunes is in trouble today, with worldwide sales of licensed products at "only" $1 billion. With new TV programming on the way, I sincerely hope that the entertaining and irreverent Looney Tunes brand regains the notoriety it deserves.

Looney Tunes toys by Tyco

Travel Thursday: Ten Days in a Carry On

While I've never successfully taken a ten day trip with carry on luggage, I sure would like to be able to do it. Today's New York Times has an article and slideshow that tells you exactly how to make it work. Still not sure that I could do it if I needed winter wear or a suit, but it's worth a try.

Marketing Monday: The Process

Came across this very funny video about the process of designing a stop sign that will mean a lot to ad agencies and designers. Not sure who created it, but it's clearly done by someone here in Toronto. Enjoy!

Toy Tuesday: Sophie la Girafe

Seems that everyone I know with an infant has a "Sophie la Girafe" toy. While I never learned about the toy from all my work in the toy business, I did learn something new today -- Sophie has been around for almost 50 years and was born in France.

Toysrus.ca sells Sophie for $21.99, and despite the toy's notoriety, it receives mixed reviews from parents.

Learn more about Sophie here.