Sunshine and Sippy Cups

Read this:

They came at the promise of candy.

Wind blew hard at the top of the ledge, threatening to force anyone unprepared off the cliff to the rocky waters below. A robed man was the only one standing, doing so right at the edge of the drop while he emphatically performed for a small group of children sitting cross-legged in front of him.

“And now we will listen to the story of Hansel and Gretel,” he announced to the children, putting in another disc of the Children’s World 12 CD Box Set.
“You said there would be candy up here!” one child complained.
“I’m cold!” said another.
“I want to go home,” said a third, sparking a strong murmur of agreement.
“No one is going home until we finish all 290 of these songs, stories and activities!” he barked, silencing the group. “You’ll get your … candy … later.”
Oh they’ll get their candy, he thought to himself while acting out a performance of Robin Hood. They’ll ALL get their candy.

Hard to even believe this is real, right? 

You can see that it’s true – Children’s CD Boxed Set. This sounds like a molester or child murderer…. Pulling up to the school in his van, offering candy to kids, and then taking them away to a desolate place. “They’ll ALL get their candy.” This makes me feel sick to my stomach. I find NO humor in this, nor can I find any reason that this should be attached to a children’s product. There’s information and links at the bottom of this post, to let you know how you can help take action against this company, so that they understand that this is NOT ok.

Are you upset yet? It gets worse…

When I was first introduced to this site, to share their daily deals on kids toys, I thought the first description I read was just some bad attempt at being funny. But then I read a few more, and they got worse.

Read another, and see what I mean:

In the gumdrop forest of the fancy fancy woods lived a crazy little critter with the very best goods. Round and round all the little children play, ’til Carl comes out and says a big “Hey!”

Carl! The caaaaterpillar!
Carl! (He’s our favorite) caaaaterpillar!
Carl! Carl!
Carl! Carl!
Carl! Carl!
He’s our furry friend!
“HELOOOOOO!”

* * *
It was getting dark and the darling little children were getting worried that they still hadn’t found their fortuitous furry friend, Carl the Caterpillar. Seeing a large spotlight shooting out from one section of the gumdrop forest, the children ran over to see none other than Carl himself.
“HELOOOOOO!” he called out upon seeing his favorite little kids in the whole world.
“Carl!” the shouted back, smiling cheerfully.
“Kids, have you ever heard of the Batman?” he asked them; they shook their heads.
“OK kids, well let me tell you a story…”
Carl brought out the Bandai Knight Flight Batman Remote Control Helicopter and flew it around while telling them of the Batman and his pledge to be the hero we all deserved. The children were fascinated by the story and clapped at the end. When all the children finished clapping, they noticed someone else still was.
“Riveting…absolutely riveting,” came a voice from behind the children. Just before turning around they saw Carl’s eyes widen in fear.
“You get out of here, you,” Carl said flatly, mustering up some courage and anger.
“I’m sorry, is it the scars? Want to know how I got ’em?” the man said, grabbing Carl’s head and putting a knife up against his mouth. “My My father was….a drinker…and a fiend. And one night he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn’t like that. Not. One. Bit. So, me watching, he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it. Turns to me and he says ‘Why so serious?’ Comes at me with the knife, ‘Why so serious?’ He sticks the blade in my mouth. ‘Let’s put a smile on that face!’ And….. Why so serious?”
Carl fell to the ground and the man turned around to face the children.

This is the copy that is on an advertisement on the site DailySteals.com, for the “New Bandai Knight Flight Batman Remote Control Helicopter” – read it all here: Disgusting Children’s Ad on DailySteals.com.

Crossing the line

This is not just bad humor, or a joke that’s not my taste. I’m not easily offended. I go to motorcycle rally’s, I love to drink a cheap beer in a dive bar. But – this is the most over-the-line stuff I’ve ever read – and it’s being used to advertise CHILDREN’S TOYS. I think it’s more than just offensive…. Reading these posts leaves you with a yucky type of feeling. They’re all really sick, disturbing, and filled with violence. And they’re all posted on toys that they want you to buy for your kids. I don’t get it??

Read a few more:

• Draw ‘N Dabble Easel: A story about a creepy guy at a playground, who’s setting up this toy so he can draw in children, then kidnap them and lock them in his basement.
• Crayola Creativity Station: Get this so your kids don’t grow up to be worthless bums living in cardboard boxes drinking Colt beer out of paper bags. Oh, but they’ll get into drugs and alcohol in high school anyway, so whatever.
• Knex Sesame Street Set: Dr. Elmo drives around the country stealing kids pets and eating them alive.
• Lil’ Rider Battery Controlled Car: Dad uses remote to drive child in the car and make him run over the neighbors pet dog, then blames it on his kid while they watch and laugh.
• LCD Alarm Clock: This is listed in the toys section, and talks about an intruder breaking into the home and threatening someone with a knife.
• Crayola Color Wonder: A dirty old man appears and asks the children if they want to come with him and play with fire.

Are you outraged yet?

They’re using quality toys from reputable brands to get people to read this garbage. I can’t imagine that companies like Crayola or Disney are OK with having their names attached to disturbing stories like this. If these kind of inappropriate stories were partnered with adult products, I could just ignore this, and write it off as a company with extremely poor judgement and bad taste, and move on. But writing stories that appeal to sicko’s and creeps, stories that pretend like abusing, killing, or threatening children is lighthearted and entertaining – Well, that to me is crossing a line. A big one. I think this company should be forced to stop promoting the abuse of children, and offer a huge apology. An apology would not EVER make me a customer, but I think that the parents who’ve read this garbage deserve one.

Join Me in Telling them this is NOT Ok

• If you’re a blogger, and you have connections to PR people for ANY of the children’s toys that are listed on this site, please forward the information to the toy company. I cannot imagine that Sesame Street is ok with their Knex Elmo set being advertised with a story of Elmo killing family pets.
• Sign the Petition – Have DailySteals taken off of the web.
• Everyone – visit the DailySteals Facebook page, and leave some comments letting them know how you feel about this. There are tons of people on the site who think this stuff is fine, or funny. I just can’t get that at all.
• Tweet this post, or share it on Facebook – let people know about this, so hopefully the company will have to get this garbage removed.
• You can find them on Twitter too, at @DailySteals – let them know how you feel.

What do YOU think?

At first, I thought that I was overreacting. Then, I went and read more. And after reading so many, I realized that this is just not the type of thing that should be allowed. Do you want some creepy molester reading a story about how some other creepy molester used a children’s toy to lure in children at a playground and kidnap them? Seriously, it just feels dangerous, dirty, and incredibly irresponsible. To me, I feel like this is garbage that should be taken off of their site, and they should be prevented from making money off of this. Please leave your comments here, and let me know if you agree, or if you think this is just humor.

Read More….

Read another post on this too at Leslie Loves Veggies. – Share both of our posts, Stumble them, post to groups, just make people aware of this. While I absolutely HATE bring DailySteals new traffic and exposure, I truly hope this will be the END of any big traffic that they have. I’ve read multiple complaints on other websites that they offer bad service and often don’t ship items – so clearly they weren’t a real reputable company to begin with. I’m guessing maybe this was some type of stunt to draw attention? But I hope it backfires horribly, and they lose all of their business. YOU can help that happen! Write letters, post this around, let people know NOT to order with this company.