Commercialization takes over the tooth fairy
The Real Tooth Fairies, critics say, are ‘a real testimony to the greed of the toy industry’
A campaign to “save the tooth fairy” is prompting a passionate public response, as high-profile toy executives move to monetize childhood’s beloved dental diva.
The Real Tooth Fairies are amplechested, micro-waisted beauties with legs for days and bejewelled crowns perched atop ’80s prom hair. Imagine if the Disney Princesses gave up their kingdoms for the Las Vegas stage and you get the idea.
The brainchild of Howard Bollinger, a former senior vicepresident at Hasbro, and his wife Marilyn, a noted toy consultant and author of 30 Disney books, the children’s brand is being targeted by the Campaign for a CommercialFree Childhood (CCFC) for being “an amalgam of all the worst trends in the toy industry.”
“This is a new low,” said Susan Linn, director of the CCFC and an instructor at Harvard University. “What this company wants to do is commercialize a biologically compelled event that, up until now, has been the purview of family tradition and a child’s imagination.”
The Real Tooth Fairies hits on almost every gender stereotype, with cheerleading, singing, makeovers, organizing fashion shows and acting listed among the pixies’ respective hobbies.
Less controversially, they spend their days encouraging global kindness and promoting the same behaviour in children.
The website features a program in which girls acquire virtual charms as they work their way through 48 acts of kindness aimed at “building character and bringing families together.”
Boys, meanwhile, are visited by The Time Travel Elffs, a muscled group of unitard-wearing repo men who carry such tools as a chain whip and pirate sabre to claim children’s teeth.
A sales video obtained by the CCFC and publicized on their site in recent days (it was removed by YouTube on Friday, for copyright issues) is described by Linn as “a real testimony to the greed of the toy industry.” In it, former Disney executive and current Fandango president Paul Yanover praises The Real Tooth Fairies for capitalizing on the widely beloved, long- unlicensed children’s icon.
“Kids are going to lose many teeth over the course of several years, and each tooth is really a holiday moment. I think about the opportunities that that creates, from gifting to greeting cards to collecting,” Yanover said.
A female voice-over then notes that with 10 million U.S. girls losing 20 teeth each, it adds up to 200 million biologically guaranteed “Tooth Fairy moments” — a stat accompanied by the repeated cha-ching of a cash register.
Brand spokeswoman Rachel Frankel declined to comment on the CCFC’s campaign, saying that they “prefer to focus on the positive offerings” of The Real Tooth Fairies. She stated in an email that feedback has been “overwhelmingly positive” — the site has racked up nearly 10 million unique visitors from 200 countries — and that “parents are encouraged to choose what they’re comfortable with in regards to their child’s participation.”
As a businesswoman and parent, Sharon Vinderline, CEO of PTPA Media, said she sees both sides of the debate, which, in recent days, has blown up on blogs and in social media.
“I understand trinkets and small toys that help make more of an experience out of losing teeth. But creating an entire industry out of it ... causes undue pressure,” said Vinderline, founder of the Parent Tested Parent Approved product awards. “Parents are fed up with the commercialization of everything.”