My daughter recently shared with us her goals for 2015. Becoming better at Pay-Doh was at the top of her list. My hubby and I purchased the Sweet Shoppe Mountain Playset to help her accomplish that goal. Plus, we knew how much she’d love making pretend treats. But little did we know that there’s a toy shaped like a penis inside the box.
Princess and I spent Boxing day playing with the playset. We made cupcakes, cookies, and other desserts. But, it never occurred to me that the tool used to make frosting resembled a sex toy rather than a kid’s toy.
In fact, I didn’t realize it until I read it online! Parents are outraged and expressed their discontent on Facebook. Hasbro, Play-Doh’s parent company, stated in Businessweek:
“We have heard some consumer feedback about the extruder tool in the Play-Doh Cake Mountain playset and are in the process of updating future Play-Doh products with a different tool.”
They’re is also offering a replacement upon request.
My hubby and I had a good laugh after reading about this because penis was the furthest thing from our minds, as far as this toy is concerned. Princess has absolutely no idea, and I’m sure most kids won’t make that connection either. If that’s the case then we are in serious trouble.
We watched Princess push for dear life to get the pretend frosting out, while the white Play-Doh slowly oozing from its tip.
“Should we get rid of it?” I asked.
“You might as well leave it,” he responded.
We decided to not bother going through the hassle of replacing it. Besides, I don’t think we would have ever noticed a thing, if no one complained about it. Not to mention, we’d have to explain to our daughter why she can’t play with it.
What would you do? Would you replace a kid’s toy that’s shaped like a penis?
I have to agree with you. I did not understand why they were having a fit, most if not all children are not seeing what the parents are seeing. I am glad to see another parent not making a big deal about something little.
I agree with you also. Yes, it is something that would make me look back at it twice and be like, “Did I really just see what I think I saw?” but in reality our perceptions on the human body is so taboo and sexual that this is not what we should be teaching our kids. This is a parenting lesson for everyone, yes it looks like a penis, no it’s not a bad thing.
I agree that taking it away from your daughter would require an explanation that she just doesn’t need. It’s my opinion that if the “plunger” had been green or even orange it might not have caused the uproar it did. But there are several popular battery operated devices that are shaped this way and purple is the common color. I believe this led to the connection for a lot of people. Just saying…
But Play-Doh as a company really should have seen the potential for trouble. They pay people to look out for things like that.
Good post.