Toys are supposed to be fun, comforting or educational, but then there are those that are just downright unsettling. I had the displeasure of seeing a commercial for a product called Baby Wee Wee (by Byrnes World of Wonder) recently, and after viewing this ad, I’m in shock as to how the manufacturers got the green light to not only make this doll but to market it as they did.
If you have not seen the Baby Wee Wee commercial – sometimes known as Baby Pee Pee – it shows two little girls playing with a baby boy doll. One girl picks up the baby doll – who is wearing a diaper – and gives him a bottle to drink then lays him on his back so she can change his diaper. The baby starts to laugh, then the girls start to laugh and their father enters the room commenting on the baby laughing. One girl tells her father that the baby will stop laughing if his tummy is tickled; so the girl removes his diaper, tickles his tummy and then the father asks to tickle the baby’s tummy.
When the father starts to touch the baby’s stomach, the camera shows the baby’s penis which then moves to an erect position and liquid squirts out onto the father’s face. As this is happening the little girl says “His little willy moves and he’s done a pee pee.” Now if that is not the epitome of disturbing, then I do not know what is. The father then points his finger and wags it as he tells the baby how naughty he is. The little girls prop the baby up into a sitting position, dry him off, and everyone laughs – except for me.
So which part of that is disturbing? Well, let’s start with the anatomically correct doll. Of course it’s a good idea for children to get to know their bodies, but should little girls really be playing with a boy doll whose penis – that looks very real I might add – moves and squirts? It is screams sexuality and I do not think children should be exposed to this at such a young age.
Then there’s the fact that the father is the one to make the baby’s penis stand erect and squirt. Of course it’s just a doll, but some can say it resembles sexual abuse. And of course the father does this in front of the little girls, which is even worse. It’s almost as if he’s teaching them how to make a penis get hard and ejaculate.
And lastly, there’s the part where the father reprimands the baby for urinating. How does that teaching children anything? The entire point of the doll is to teach children how babies urinate and how to take care of them, so why would the baby get reprimanded for doing what the doll was intended to do? Doesn’t that just suggest to children that peeing is a bad thing? Parents are supposed to encourage potty training, not discourage it.
Now, I know that I might be taking all of this out of context and it’s just a toy, but I cannot imagine anyone seeing the commercial and not coming away with the same conclusions as I did. If you want to see the commercial for yourself, just click on the following web site: http://www.buy4now.ie/worldofwonder/aspx/productdetail.aspx?pid=104782&loc;=P&catid;=9.46
