“Transformers conquer Toyland this Christmas”
I mentioned yesterday that I had collected together nine newspaper articles about Transformers, and one theme that kept surfacing as I was working on Each Sold Separately and Action Figures Not Included makes another appearance, this time in a November 30, 1985 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“Transformers and Gobots are the latest beneficiaries of an ongoing trend: Phenomenal toy sales stem in large part from the animated kiddie TV shows which star the very toys themselves. Critics call these shows “program-length commercials,” and it’s tough to refute that label.”
–Barry Paris, “Transformers conquer Toyland this Christmas” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 30, 1985
Incredible. I find it kinda shocking that things have changed so much when it comes to entertainment and product merchandising. But in 1985 the FCC rulings of 1983 and 1984 were still fairly new, so I shouldn’t be surprised at all that some of the older generation were opposed to the marketing value of cartoons about toys. The more successful toys/brands at the time had actual stories and characters in the cartoons, though, and it shouldn’t make my brain wince whenever I find these older articles that seem to fixate on the evils of marketing to children.
It’s a good thing the world got a bit more progressive over the last three decades.
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Thank you for digging these news articles up and sharing them. I didn’t even know about Google’s newspaper search until now! 🙂
As an adult, I can understand a little more why parents didn’t like the blatant advertising — if nothing else, it meant they were getting pestered a lot more by their kids for cheap plastic junk haha!
Nonetheless, those toys and shows were often very positive outlets for kids. At their best, they were inspired and encouraged kids to be creative themselves too.