I am all for better financial education for children. I think children need to learn about how saving up for big things is much better than frittering their pocket money on silly things and about the pains of owing people money as early and harmlessly as possible. Yet it really should not be as half-hearted as buying your daughter a Barbie Fashion Fever Shopping Boutique Playset complete with a toy credit card with an ever-regenerating credit limit.
Click on the jump to see the commercial and more reaction:
I made some observations upon watching the advert for the toy, conveniently marketed before Christmas just as Santa regrets maxing out his latest credit card. On first impressions, this toy looks like something that would be sold in the Stupid Spoiled Whore shop and should not actually influence whoever dreams up Barbie playsets. The toy credit card itself, with its magical credit rating from the Central Bank of Fairyland sugarcoats the issues of actually earning and keeping money, where it neglects tax deductions, interest rates, overdrafts, direct debit payments, national insurance contributions and all the other scary and tedious things that would probably go over Barbie's head. Most worryingly of all, since when was $200 (£100) an appropriate daily amount for a child's shopping trip for Barbie clothes?
Bridget Orr sees the Fashion Fever Shopping Boutique Playset as one of the reasons why she usually posts on media stereotypes and alternatives to shopping.
