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“Hipster Parents” and other adults who won’t grow up
January 20, 2008
I continue to find the toy industry to be lacking in its pursuit of adults who still want to play with toys. This market exists but manufacturers have failed to create sufficient merchandise to create a critical mass of products and retailers have failed to create departments or sections to put those products in.
An interesting article, "Family Values", by Rob Walker in the January 20, 2008 New York Times magazine reminds us yet again that this market exists. The article is based around the Nickelodeon television show, “Yo Gabba Gabba!”, which has a following among adults and kids. What is interesting is that the creators of the show intentionally went after “. . . their generation of dads.” Did they succeed? “Charles Rivkin, the president and chief executive of Wildbrain, which produces the show, says, ‘I challenge you to find another preschool show that four months after going on the air is actually selling adult apparel at Barneys [the hip clothing stores].’”
The article goes on to emphasize this point by saying that “While plenty of shows for children have also appealed to adults – “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” “H.R. Pufnstuf,” even “Sesame Street”- “Yo Gabba Gabba!” updates this idea for a generation that, it has been argues, is ambivalent about letting go of its own youth.”
How did they do it? That will be in my next blog.
Posted by Richard Gottlieb on January 20, 2008 | Comments (0)
