📘 Part 3: Children, Toys, and Advertising

This episode's vocabulary

Questions and Answers

Maria: What are the advantages and disadvantages of modern toys?

Rory: I honestly don't know. I'm not exactly au fait with the ins and outs of product design these days. But I'd guess they might be more interactive with all the technology integrated into them, which could make them more fun to play with. On the other hand, it might make them more expensive as a result.

Maria: What's the difference between the toys boys play with and girls play with?

Rory: Well, actually, I remember reading something somewhere that it's less about what they play with and more about how they play with them. So, for example, girls are generally more likely to play with dolls in a cooperative play, like playing house. While boys tend to engage in more competitive or mock aggressive play with their versions of dolls. You could probably best see that in the difference between things like Barbie and Action Man.

Maria: Do you think parents should buy more toys for their kids or spend more time with them?

Rory: Oh, I'm definitely of the firm belief that parents need to spend more time with their kids. It helps them to socialize and build secure bonds and reduces mental and physical issues. If you outsource that to inanimate objects, then I suppose it's less effective or even completely ineffectual. Not only that, but it could also even be harmful to the development of children.

Maria: What's the difference between the toys kids play with now and those they played with in the past?

Rory: Well, broadly speaking, they seem to be more complex. Not only in terms of the tech incorporated into them, but also when it comes to the materials they're made from. And they'd have to be with all the electronics embedded in them and all the developments in materials, at least in material science in the last century. All the plastic we have alone is a massive change.

Maria: Should advertising aimed at children be prohibited?

Rory: I'm tempted to say it should be banned all together, given how irritating it is. Though I'm not sure how feasible that is. How would you even enforce such a prohibition? It's probably more reasonable to encourage people to be more independently minded and reduce the exposure of kids to stuff like that in general. But that's something you have to decide personally. I don't think you could convince the authorities to enforce that.

Maria: How do adverts influence children?

Rory: I don't know a great deal about the psychological mechanism behind it, but I suppose the simple version is that the same way it affects adults, it creates some sort of excitement or fear around having or not having something and how it could make things better or at least appear to make things better. With kids, that could be making the product part of a story, or through the use of bright colors or opportunities to interact, like with a digital pet or something.

Maria: Thank you very much for your answers, Rory.

Discussion

Maria: Right, dear listener. So, modern toys. The first toy that pops into my head is Labubu. How do you pronounce it? Labubu?

Rory: Oh my god, yeah.

Maria: Yes, is this this creature. How do you say it, Rory? Labubu?

Rory: I think it's Labubu. I don't know. I don't really play with the Labubu.

Maria: And actually, it's a very interesting phenomenon. Marketing is amazing, and that's a really nice business. Yeah, I'm impressed. Labubu. Dear listener, if you don't know about Labubu, Google, because the whole world seems to be crazy about this toy.

Rory: What is going on?

Maria: I know, but everyone is insane about Labubu toys. And you can give it as an example, right? So, modern toys, the world is crazy about Labubu still. I think it was even crazier a couple of months ago, maybe half a year ago. You can say that I'm not an expert about the ins and outs of product design these days. So ins and outs, the details of product design. I don't know about the design of modern toys, but toys these days might be more interactive.

Rory: So they speak to children.

Maria: Or maybe they can do things with them. They are more fun to play with, but they could be more expensive. Also, you can talk about technology. So they are more technological. So they have more technology inside them. Or you can say that they are more educational, modern toys. But about materials, for example, many modern toys are made of plastic, low-quality materials to make them cheaper. So that's not good. That's one of the disadvantages, right? And many toys can limit children's imagination or creativity.

Rory: Maybe.

Maria: And many toys are just ugly.

Rory: Do you think so? Which toys are ugly? Labubu? Look at us talking about Labubu, that's gonna get us traction on the algorithm.

Maria: From my point of view, I don't know. Dear listener, maybe you enjoy the toy and you like it, but for me it's something evil. It's just so weird. It's just this little monster, it's like, wow. It's just totally crazy for me. But maybe you're okay. Sorry if I hurt your feelings, dear listener, right? So, the difference between boys and girls, you can say that generally, girls are likely to play with dolls. That's the usual story, dear listener, okay?

Rory: Very generally.

Maria: In general, girls tend to play with dolls, or are more likely to play with dolls. So, probably they will play with dolls, while boys tend to engage in more competitive games, tend to engage in more aggressive play, right? So, cars, tanks, machines, arms, they enjoy war, right? They enjoy competition. And you can see the difference in toys like Barbie for girls and Action Man, right? But I'm looking at popular toys these days and actually Lego is still pretty popular. Animals from Lego and Star Wars from Lego is super popular. Also Play-Doh is very popular. So dear listener, if you don't know what Play-Doh is, just Google it. It's just this substance that you use to make different things from. It's like, I don't know. Again, Google it. Play-Doh. Play and D O H. Doh. Play-doh for little ones. And also, different action figures for boys. Spiderman action figure. We call it action figures, like a figure of Spiderman, for example. And also toys from famous cartoons are popular. For example, from the cartoon Moana. Moana doll sets. So a set of dolls, with Moana and the big guy.

Rory: Maui. Even I know that.

Maria: And a Star Wars action set is still pretty popular. So you can make some examples, right? For example, action figures, Moana action figures, Barbie, Spider Man figure. Parents need to spend more time with their kids.

Rory: Yeah.

Maria: Not presents, but time. Not toys, but time. So parents need to build secure social bonds with children. Bonds like connections.

Rory: Social connections.

Maria: Yeah. And toys are inanimate objects, dear listener.

Rory: They don't move.

Maria: Exactly.

Rory: They have no soul.

Maria: So it doesn't move. It's not alive. So, which is better? Parents or inanimate objects?

Rory: Parents, come on. Unless you have really rubbish parents.

Maria: And toys in the past, so we had very little technology. No Labubu. And the toys in the past were made from natural materials, they were made from wood, stone, so dolls were natural.

Rory: They weren't weird.

Maria: I mean, we're saying this. Maria and I are obviously of an older generation. There are probably some young people who are like, whoa, Labubu is the best thing ever.

Rory: And they are wrong. It is not.

Maria: Yeah, so toys were very simple, like dolls, cars, soldiers, toy soldiers. Well, we did have some teddy bears, but that's later, perhaps. Some hobby horses, right? And pretty much wood and bone. So, kites, a kite that we put up in the air. Balls, different balls. So yeah, everything was so simple.

Rory: Now it's so complicated.

Maria: And Rory tells us that broadly speaking, again, in general, toys seem to be more complex now than in the past. The materials are different. And we talk about embedded electronics. So now toys have technology embedded in them, inserted in them. So toys can talk, toys can move, toys can play music, and lots of plastic.

Rory: But they are no replacement for parents.

Maria: Advertisements, dear listener. So, we say adverts, ads, or advertisements. The general word for the industry is advertising. So in general, advertising. But then, you say that advertisements for children, adverts for children, ads for kids are very irritating, so they are annoying. That these adverts make children want certain toys. And it's reasonable. So it's sensible to do something. And maybe you think that we should ban all adverts for children. Ban, like prohibit, like, no, no, no, we don't have any adverts for children anymore. That's it.

Rory: Ban them all together, like 100%.

Maria: But that's not feasible.

Rory: That means it's not really possible.

Maria: So these adverts, they use some specific psychological mechanisms to influence children's psychology, brain. And they usually create a sort of excitement in children, or they create a sense of fear. A child watches this ad and then they are afraid of not getting this toy, of missing out. So they create this feeling of missing out. If I don't have Labubu, I will die. Or my friends will think that I am stupid without Labubu, yeah? That's horrible. Just dreadful. Can you imagine, Rory?

Rory: If you don't have this phone, you are this and that.

Maria: Well, that's the message being sent, but is it a real message? Or is it just people being manipulated?

Rory: That's the reality.

Maria: Don't let yourself be manipulated by advertising, unless it's one of our adverts. They are always beneficial.

Rory: Oh yeah, dear listener. Our advertising is just amazing. The best. Top notch.

Maria: Those things are actually beneficial and we're not selling them to children, so that's fine. Thank you so much for listening. We love you. We hug you, okay? Play only with the right toys, all right? The toys that give you pleasure and joy and they are just nice. Bye.

Rory: Bye.