”We have met the enemy and it is us.”

What a dynamic—albeit somewhat harsh—slice of philosophy. And from the mouth of a comic strip character, no less!

Little did cartoonist Walt Kelly know, decades ago, when he penned (penciled, really) this now seemingly immortal phrase for Pogo, that it would be used over and again to elucidate myriad situations; from the environment, to politics, to economics, you name it.

In fact, if Kelly—on the peripheral of our industry throughout his life working for Disney, Marvel and DC Comics—were alive today, he might very well create a poster for us with that iconic phrase; similar to the one he immortalized for conservationists back in the '70s.

Of course, we would hate it.

We have many “enemies” in our biz, what with economic uncertainties, unstable fuel prices and venture capitalists buying toy retailers; not to mention rising interest rates.

Surely we are not our own enemy.

On second thought…

Look at us.

Outwardly, we certainly do not “look” like the diverse population we claim to serve and represent.

While our nation becomes more colorful, attendees at our conferences definitely are not; nor are they highly visible in industry leadership positions.

In 2003, 43 percent of the babies born in the United States were born to minority mothers. By 2009, it is expected that minority buying power will amount to $2.7 billion.

Are we adequately serving our increasingly colorful kid community, or will we just continue to complain that toy sales are diminishing because of the economy or better yet, blame soft sales on that nemesis: age compression?

Don't we whine and moan about “age compression,” elevate it to the status of phenomenon, legitimize it with an acronym, KGOY (kids getting older younger, in case you didn't know), create conferences around it and then charge exorbitant fees to attend?

And at the same time, don't we help accelerate the process with all kinds of products—including wannabe rock star dolls (we're talking preschool here, folks)—and gadgets that encourage kids to “aspire” to be older?

Maybe we need to develop some public service announcements about the importance of play in a kids life. (Hello!) If we do have them, they are noticeably absent among the other PSAs on TV about the importance of reading in a child's life or communicating with family.

“It's 10 o'clock…did your kid play today?”

You think?

We also steal each other's ideas and sell them as our own. Enough said on that issue.

And then what about the toys as “loss leader” thing? Maybe we helped a bit there, too?

Unfortunately we all don't have the resilience (we call it “moxie” here in New Yawk) of one manufacturer we met recently who blew off the suggestion a company product could be made for even less money.

“I'm willing to pay X dollars for this toy and not a penny more,” intoned the buyer of the largest retail company in the United States, but which shall remain nameless.

“Fine,” replied the manufacturer. “You want to pay half the price; I'll sell you half a toy.”

Amen.

Pogo may have said it, but we are all forced to acknowledge the reality of this logic, brutal as it is, throughout our lives and even in our beloved business.

We have met the enemy and (sometimes) it is us.