The war against Christmas toys
International Herald Tribune
By Alex Beam
Published: December 22, 2008
Ah, Christmastime. Store tramplings, nervous breakdowns, prickly clumps of holly showing up where you least expect them. And the annual, mindless War on Toys. It makes a fella feel gosh-darned sentimental.
Every year, like clockwork, the family of Boston lawyer Edward Swartz stages a holiday-time press conference, decrying the "10 most dangerous toys" in the stores. Every year, like beaten, groveling, guileless dogs, the media give the Swartz's outfit, World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH), free publicity for its dubious claims. That must be because there is so little happening in the world.
This year is no exception. WATCH "fearlessly exposed potentially dangerous toys to the general public," the nonprofit's Web site proclaims.
What are the 10 toys to avoid this Christmas? Beware the Play-a-Sound Book with Cuddly Pooh! Shun the Spiderman Adjustable Toy Skates! For heaven's sakes, don't let your children play with Kenscott's 4-foot-wide inflatable Giga Ball! "Children as young as 4 years old are encouraged to 'crawl inside' this colorful inflatable ball, in order to 'spin, tumble, [and] bounce,"' the Swartzes write, adding: "WATCH out!".......
... A more welcome, albeit short-lived, Christmastime tradition was the full-page ad that the Greenwich, Connecticut-based rich guy Ray Dalio took out in major newspapers decrying Yuletide commercialism. "No sooner does Thanksgiving end, than the loathsome shopping season begins - a monthlong compulsion to buy something, anything, for anyone," read Dalio's ad in last year's Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune and other papers.
In lieu of mobbing the malls, Dalio urged you to "give people donations to their favorite charity. And request that they give donations to your favorite charities. A lot more money would go to people who need it."
Dalio, a Harvard Business School grad who captains the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, spent $2 million on his "redefining Christmas" campaign last year. This year, not so much.
Instead of newspaper ads, "they opted for radio," publicist Marianne O'Hare tells me. "They had limited money to spend." Dalio commissioned six 15-second radio spots to run on some nationally syndicated shows and bought some sponsorship messages on National Public Radio.....
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