God and the Art of Toy and Diecast Marketing
A Gift, Swords, and Christmas
By Lu Su
It seems not all Gifts are well received at Christmas.
photo credit: buzzfeed.com
Last time we left off on the question on how can you make Barbie dolls appeal to boys? If you can accomplish that, you’ll double the customer base, which is generally a good thing if you are marketing toys. Now if you can also widen the age range, that could more than quadruple your target audience. It’s a super simple marketing strategy 1) Go after both sexes and 2) Expand the age group.
One of my customers told me that Lego is trying to implement this strategy by trying to make their building blocks more appealing to young girls by introducing beautiful pastel-colored bricks and building set themes that have a house or castle included. So far, a color and theme change alone hasn’t caused a big surge girls desiring to build with plastic blocks. So, let’s definitely not go with that strategy in trying to make Barbie appeal to boys. What would get boys to take an interest in Barbie? A prettier face? No, the answer isn’t her face. Her face is pretty enough. The answer is her feet.
“Her feet?” you ask.
“Yes, her feet.”
Her feet are not too big; they are not too small. They are not too hard; they are not too soft. They are not too pointy; they are not too blunt. Her feet are just right. Barbie’s feet have the perfect Goldilocks texture and consistency (molded to perfection). This simple marketing idea is going to cause Mattel to sell way more Barbies than they do now.
I wish I could say that I came up with this idea. But I got the idea from a couple who had triplets -one girl and two boys. When it came to toys, their parents did not want to show any gender bias by inadvertently promoting some type of gender role-play with the gifts they bought. So, they bought their daughter and sons all the exact same gifts. That Christmas, they all got Hot Wheel cars. Their daughter was given a GI Joe just like her two brothers. The parents also bought three Barbie dolls, one for each child. All the kids got the same toys, so that there would be no fighting (in theory) and no sibling could say that their brother or sister got a “better” present.
“Did your daughter like her GI Joe?” asked the interviewer.
“She played with both GI Joe and Barbie in the traditional way, “replied the mother.
“Barbie married GI Joe, “said the father “and we got invited to their wedding,” with a smile.
The interviewer asked the couple, “How were the Barbie dolls received by your boys? “
“The Barbies were actually a big hit with our boys,“ replied the mother, “But they didn’t play with them in the traditional manner.”
“Really? How did your sons play with their Barbie dolls?” asked the interviewer.
“One of our boys removed the dolls clothes and then started jabbing the doll’s feet into their brother stomach and ribs, “ said the mother as she chuckled, “And then our other son immediately ripped his Barbie out of the package and started doing the same. That Christmas day and that entire week, our boys were having sword fights inside and outside our house with their dolls.”
So maybe this Christmas, if you don’t know what to get that particular family that already has everything, consider a pair of Barbie dolls. Then when they are not looking or doing something mundane like brushing their teeth or washing dishes, jab Barbie’s feet into an unsuspecting family member’s side. Laughter and annoyance immediately follow. Soon by necessity, that family member will need to be holding a Barbie.
It’s my hunch that In time, young boys will take their Barbie to school and demonstrate on their friends how to play with Barbie. It has the potential to turn into a big fad. After all most schools prohibit swords and weapons, but a Barbie doll should fly under the radar.
Now that I think about it, swords at Christmas time seem to have a long tradition of going together. Sword were drawn at one of the earliest Christmas events.
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
-Matthew 2: 2, 3, 16
Approximately 2028 years ago, our free gift appeared on Earth, but it was not well received by many -particularly the upper management in Jerusalem. Had we supplied our Air-to-Surface Missiles (ASM) to King Herod at that time, he probably would have used them. If you don’t know anything about this great builder, he was very ME focused and anything that threatened him or got in the way of what he wanted to accomplish, he took out. For fear that his own family members had eyes on his throne, Herod had his wife executed. Herod also arranged the murder of three of his own sons. When emperor Augustus soon found out about this incident, this famous line is attributed to Caesar,
“It’s better to be Herod’s pig than son.” -the joke being that, since Herod was a Jew (or at least raised as a Jew), he didn’t eat pork and thus his pig should be safe.
It's my hunch that had we supplied our munitions, planes to deliver them, training, and financial support to the leader in Jerusalem at that time, Herod would have used them. Herod was a person that didn’t care how many innocent lives got caught up in what he wanted to achieve. But with no ASMs at Herod’s disposal, he likely dispatched soldiers with swords to Bethlehem (a city not far from Jerusalem).
We are not like Herod right? We aren’t so goal oriented that we’d drop our concerns for hurting innocent people right? I actually think we are even worse than king Herod. Herod only targeted boys ages two and younger. Our ASMs have reached multiple cities near Jerusalem, and we’ve applied my Barbie marketing strategy 1) Go after both sexes and 2) Expand the age group. What also might make us worse than Herod, is that we’ve also destroyed the infrastructure that allowed thousands of innocent people to pursue a vocation, which in turn allowed them to house and feed their family.
Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images
2000 years later, we have not become a kinder and gentler nation. We’re still pulling out swords at Christmas and we’ve become even more dangerous and ferocious about it -because we even go after women and children. Something threatened Herod and us. We both set a goal to reach and we don’t want anything to get in the way. I had noticed that the U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting a couple of weeks ago and put forth a resolution for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. Among the 15 members, the US was the sole member that vetoed that idea. Peace at Christmas time? Bah humbug! We didn’t have it 2000+ years ago, why should we have it now?
Seems like what the world needs is a savior that could rescue us from this cycle of violence where so many innocent people pay with their lives. We need a savior that could bring a lasting peace. Not one of those temporary cease-fire peace.
So let me give you the good news and bad news. The good news first. God has already set in motion for a lasting peace to come.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
– Isaiah 9:6
Christmas is about the incarnation of God; this is where God become fully God and fully man at the same time. Because the son (part of the triune God) has always existed, the son cannot be born. So Isaiah needs to break it up and says “a child is born” and “the son is given”. It makes for an awkward sentence, but it’s necessary if it is to be an accurate account (because the Bible does not support reincarnation).
God sent us a very precious and costly Gift approximately 2028 years ago. And Isaiah wrote about Christmas approximately 700 years prior to that and Herod sending swords to Bethlehem. If he wrote it 700 years before it happened (and way before we Americans have turned Christmas into a half a trillion dollar gift giving event) everything Isaiah wrote about should be in future tense right?
That’s what prophets do right? Don’t they write about what is going to happen in the future? But Isaiah, considered one of those oldies but a goodie Biblical prophets, doesn’t deliver the Christmas message in the future tense; I don’t think most people realize how awkwardly constructed Isaiah’s Christmas message is.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given” is in the present tense (the “is” give it away).
“and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Is all in the future tense (the “will” gives it away).
The eternal and everlasting God seems to have a knack when talking about himself in use the present tense. Recall when God introduces himself to Moses he says,
“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.” -Exodus 3:6
By the time Moses was on the scene, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were long gone from Earth. But notice God doesn’t say “I was the God…” He uses the present tense “I Am” (which is actually God’s name).
It’s my conclusion that Isaiah didn’t write this Christmas message of hope for the people in his time period. He wrote it for us! It’s for the people living in the time period from the 1st Christmas and from the time he returns. This is awesome news! I’m way more confident that God will deliver a lasting peace. Whenever we try to bring peace, it seems like our Herodian need for power, money, fame, or some other temporary thing that we think we need, end up killing and terrorizing a lot of innocent people.
The Prince of Peace will come. I’m sure of it. That’s really good news. But there is some bad news. Or at least, let’s call it some not so great news. It still relates to Swords and Christmas. I’ve yet to find this message on any Christmas card.
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.” -Matthew 10: 34 - 36
Wow! Hallmark and American Greetings is not going to want Jesus on staff for one of their writers. God might possess some creative talent, but these two companies are likely to tell Jesus to stick with carpentry or wine making as a profession.
WHY would God willing become a human being in the first place is baffling, misunderstood, and many consider an impossibility. The fact that God could be a man in the first place is rejected by many world religions and gnostic cults. At least on his first trip, our Gift whipped out his Barbie and brought a divisive message; Even members of your own family may pass on God’s Gift to us.
So why Christmas? Why would God become one of us? Because of our Herodian nature, the answer we want to accept is going to be heavy on the ME and light on God.
If you ask people why God came, you’re likely to hear stuff like “To heal the sick, make the lame walk, make bad people good, to confront evil, to teach us, to stop injustice, to bring peace on Earth.”
The problem with the above answers is that you don’t need to send your only Son to accomplish the above. We definitely seem short on peace domestically and internationally these days. Peace with our neighbor would be great, but the more important peace we need is peace with God. Realize that He took the initiative and sent us a peace offering. Would you consider laying down your Barbie and cease all hostilities (or even worse your apathy) towards our Maker?
What is our greatest need? I think the prolific author does an excellent job in answering this question:
“If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior.” -Max Lucado.
A Savior? The function of a savior is to save. What do I need saving from?
The answer to this question like this needs to be revealed from God. Observing nature is not going to get you the answer. You can’t follow the science on this one. Also, the answer isn’t hidden in some Da Vinci Code that you need to break or run-down dark corridors with Tom Hanks to find. The answer is revealed in the most published, translated, and printed piece of literature on Earth.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their ______.” -Matthew 1: 20, 21
Ignorance? Passions? Herodian ways? Need for Taylor Swift tickets? What was that keyword that was used so long ago?
Merry Christmas.
Lu Su
Toy Wonders, Inc.
www.toywonders.com
201-229-1700
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