Saturday, January 08, 2011

Creepy stuff I saw at Tarjaaay

My wife and I were just at Tarjaaay (you know, the glitzy megastore with the bulls-eye logo) and I saw this item:



Hmm, I thought. That's interesting. And we moved on.
Then I stopped. I turned around, walked back to the toy display and looked again:


Yes. I was right. It's the Joker. The freaking Joker. Somebody made a toy for kids starring the...
 freaking...
 Joker. Ages 3 to 8.
Now, I'm going to surprise you. After some thought, I felt less "this is freaking wrong" and more amusement. Even sympathy. Because you just know this idea originated with some poor middle-management guy in Saigon or Japan who has no idea who the Joker is. He probably saw something like...
...and thought Oh. Clown. American babies like clowns. And Batman. American kids like Batman. Clowns...and Batman. We sell to babies...and kids too! 
Ah. The poor guy.
(Incidentally, have you ever read the Wikipedia article on the Joker? It's fascinating.)

Actually, I saw something much creepier at the Bulls-eye Barn - a label on some organic baby food:


Of course I usually shy away from mentioning organic food. It's just too easy. A big, obvious tarjaaay. ("Pay more money for a product more likely to contain squirming maggots!" "Eat like a peasant in 8th century France!" and so on.) Come on, I have some standards. But what I found creepy about this cute little message is the thought that a seven-year-old child has some say on the executive board of some corporation. What if she gets mad with power? What if she demands that all our baby food contain unicorn blood, or shredded crayons? What then? Huh?  

In times like this, I have to cling to what is certain. What I know. For example, I know that no matter what the crazed lil' Ella dreams up, Tarjaay will mark the price up by 50%, then have a "sale" marking it down by 25%. And I know my wife will buy it because it's from Tarjaay. Just kidding Honey. 

1 comment:

  1. This blog ended because the body of the writer will never be seen again

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