The Impact Of Internet Culture On The Toy Industry

1A

NPR

News

4.4 • 4.3K Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2024

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For children across the country and the world, they're the centerpieces of weekend mornings, family holidays, and prized collections.

We're talking about toys.

The global toy industry is at a crossroads. How dolls, action figures, puzzles, skibidi toilets, and more find their way into the hands of kids is changing. The role that the internet and influencers play in getting kids excited about a franchise or specific toy is growing rapidly.

But is the toy industry keeping up? Amid an uncertain economic climate worldwide, buyers for brick-and-mortar stores that sell toys are playing it safe and sticking with traditional offerings.

We discuss what the toy industry is doing to keep up with the times.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from NPR's sponsor, Organic Valley, the farmer-owned cooperative dedicated to providing ethically sourced food from small organic family farms.
0:09.5	Discover how you can support local organic farmers at o v. coop slash ethically sourced.
0:15.8	For children across the country and around the world, these are the
0:27.5	centerpiece of weekend mornings, family holidays, and prized collections.
0:33.0	The house says,
0:35.0	we're talking about toys.
0:40.0	Every day an entire industry's fate is essentially decided by the whims of
0:46.2	children, what they're thinking about, where their eyeballs are, and what their
0:50.2	parents enjoy with them or will at least tolerate.
0:55.0	Those kids eyeballs used to be on the TV every Saturday morning until noon,
0:59.7	which made marketing toys nice and simple.
1:02.1	Watch out!
1:05.0	There's something funny going on.
1:07.0	It's new Tickle Me Elmo.
1:09.0	Each one of kinds,
1:11.0	mine all my best friends for life.
1:14.0	Cabin Tracks!
1:15.0	It's Barbie Dream House!
1:18.0	It's Barbie's Ultimate Dream House!
1:20.0	An hour!
1:22.0	Gee I Joe, G. I. G. I. J.
1:24.0	fighting man for med to go.
	...

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