Yahoo Finance Toys and gender: How things are changing this holiday season
If you think Barbies are for girls and Nerf weapons are for boys, you must be living in 2014. From pink and purple Nerf crossbows to a boy being featured in a Barbie ad, this holiday season is shaking up the toy aisle when it comes to gender. In fact, retailer Target literally stopped labeling toy aisles for boys or girls.
As Dave Brandon, the CEO of Toys "R" Us, told us,” You can’t predict who enjoys what, who wants to buy what."
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Toymakers and retailers are addressing consumer preferences for toys in two ways. There’s the gender- neutral movement in which a toymaker or retailer takes away boy/girl labeling or repackages a toy like the Easy Bake Oven so that it will appeal to both sexes.
The other approach takes toys more strongly associated with boys (usually) and re-brands them (usually in pink or purple) for girls. Take Lego Friends or the new Nerf line Rebelle as prime examples.
Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner says the company, which produces the Rebelle line, is just listening to girls. “All over the world they were saying to us they wanted their own Nerf Blasters.” Goldner thinks the focus on gender is a retail innovation. He points out nearly 30% of My Little Pony’s audience around the world is boys.
As the mother of both a boy and a girl, I worry about gender stereotypes when it comes to toys and playtime, but maybe I’m overthinking it. When I talked to my own kids, toys and gender issues were secondary to their main concern: sharing.
