Easter Bunny/WalMart Scandal

#1

Okay, so on another forum, it was brought to my attention that many, many mothers are furious with WalMart for their latest Easter commercial. In this commercial, the mom looks at the camera and says something along the lines of “I love Wal Mart because now I can put so much more into their baskets!”

And now, a bunch of mommies are furious because their kids caught that and asking questions about the reality of the Easter Bunny. And I don’t mean, they are a little cranky. I am talking about cussing out WalMart, writing letters and talking about boycotting, because WalMart “took away their child’s innocence”.

I will reserve my opinion for a few posts, so as not to sway public opinion.

#2

Eh… it’s a little disenchanting of Walmart to do that, but IMHO, there’s lots of other reasons to dislike Walmart besides an easter commercial. (As of last week, I now have THREE super Walmarts within a 15 minute drive.) :shock:

And, kids gotta learn someday. If a kid is wise enough to pick up on the fact that the mom on tv just said she makes her kids’ easter baskets, well… maybe the kid is old enough to learn the truth, ya think? :shrug:

#3

See, for me, the Easter Bunny wasn’t like Santa Claus. Santa brought presents. Not all of them, but the toys really. Now, the Easter Bunny, on the other hand - in my house we colored eggs and left them on a table. The Easter Bunny hid the eggs for us to find and hid a few of those plastic eggs that open with candy in them. We always knew that mom and dad packed the baskets. That was their Easter gift to us.

I can understand the mom’s outrage, but I have to agree with Silver that if the kids are old enough to understand what was said, maybe they’re old enough to be told.

On a side note re: Christmas. Friends of mine have told me that with regard to gifts that come from Santa for the kids, they always told the kids that although Santa brings the gifts, mom and dad have to pay him back, so they won’t be able to get everything they want and should stick to a few special things. I think that’s a cool idea for cash-strapped parents.

#4

Kids will discover one day that the Easter bunny isn’t real, one way or another. :shrug: I don’t have kids so maybe I don’t understand… I guess it’s a bit sad to learn it this way, but I really don’t get all this drama!

I never believed in Santa and the Easter bunny as a kid. I liked these characters very much and it was a lot of fun to pretend, but I always knew it was my parents who brought the gifts. Yet, I’m a perfectly normal person… I think. :teehee:

I remember distinctively as a kid telling some adults I believed in Santa even if I didn’t. I knew it would please them, they would find it very cute and I would get some attention. And it worked. Kids are a lot smarter than we think. :wink:

If only people were getting as worked up about poverty, hunger in the world, wars, injustice… oh well. :shrug:

#5

Our local news did a story on how the tooth fairy’s rates are going up. They did pretty well at not saying anything to lead to the fact that the tooth fairy is the parent. Then, they interviewed people on the street. They were commenting that they would have to start giving more, they couldn’t afford it, etc. I’m so glad my kids weren’t paying attention!

As far as the Easter Bunny and Santa, we “help” them out with buying presents and stuff if my kids see stuff we bought from them. My sister used to tell her kids that the present was for a cousin. Then one Christmas, my nephew asked where this and that were that they bought for said cousin (which were identical to the ones he got from Santa). Sis had a lot of explaining to do!

Kelly

#6

The Easter Bunny isn’t real!!! :shock:

#7

If I remember correctly they ran a very similar ad at Christmas. Personally I think the commercials are crazy. I agree that if a child is watching a tv commericial close enough to understand what mom says then maybe they’re a little too hold to still believe in the easter bunny. Of course all the Easter Bunny ever did at my house was hide a few eggs with candy in them - we never got GIFTS

#8

I agree with Iza. We had the same outlook as kids it appears.

#9

As a mom, I’m more offended by the commercial’s implication that I need to provide my kids with “more” of Walmart’s garbage.

#10

Does it make me a bad person if I find that sort of amusing? I agree that if the kids are able to figure out what the commercial means, and the parents aren’t able to explain around it, the kids might be a bit too old to still believe. Then again, being Jewish, I have no idea when kids stop believing in the Easter Bunny or Santa. Apparently when I was little, my parents used to tell me not to go around telling the truth about Santa. And once in kindergarten, they had some guy dressed as Santa come visit, and I remember being so afraid that he’d find out I was Jewish and get mad at me.

#11

:roflhard: :roflhard: :roflhard: :roflhard: :roflhard:

I agree with Silver, if the kid is old enough to figure it out from a commercial they are old enough to know the truth!

My kids always knew that things like Santa, the Tooth Fairy and The Easter Bummy were fun “pretend” things.

#12

:roflhard:

Well, I think Walmart should be more sensitive to issues like that, but geez…to get up in arms over it is just silly.

#13

I agree and I am thinking that perhaps the outraged mommies are masking the ‘easter bunny rage’ as general ‘walmart rage’. I don’t know though because these mommies might NEED to shop at WalMart.

I do agree with Silver and others though … re: if they can understand the implications of the commercial, it’s overdue … :frowning:

#14

I think that with all of the serious problems going on in the world today the Easter Bunny debacle simply doesn’t rate.

#15

Yeeesh! Get a grip mommies. Why not complain about the low wages of workers at Walmart instead. Priorities people!!!

#16

I agree with those of you who say that there is more to be angry at Wal-mart for than the Easter Bunny. If it takes a bunch of moms being angry because of Wal-mart “ruining the innocence of their children” to stop shopping at the “Evil Empire”, that’s fine with me.

#17

For the record, I believe in the Easter Bunny, The Tooth Fairy, & Santa Clause. They will always live in the heart of my childhood. What the commercial says… So I can put more in the kids basket or something like that. When I was little, Mom & Dad gave me an Easter Basket, the Easter Bunny brought the eggs and a spring toy or so…

I am not surprised that some people are outraged. However, I am to the point of my life very little surprises me. If that is all they have to gripe about… I wish I was them… I have lots more to gripe about…:teehee:

#18

I can understand why parents have been upset…Honestly, I’d rather have that talk with my kids than have a commercial ruin it for them…When I was a child I did believe in Santa and the Easter bunny and all that stuff, and, I remember so clearly the day I found out none of them were real (well, really just Santa, but, once that jig is up, well, ya just know all of them don’t exist…lol).

Anyway, I was in elementary school, at the drinking fountain, and there was a girl behind me…I mentioned something about a present I got from Santa and she told me Santa wasn’t real. I was a bit upset, but, let it roll off my back. However, it ended up really bugging me the more the day went on. I remember lying in bed that night, my mom tucking me in when I asked her if Santa was real. She simply said to me, “do you believe reindeer can fly?” I replied, “no, not really.” She then asked me a couple more questions, letting me form my own opinion rather than coming right out and saying, well no, he’s not real. I think it was easier for me that way, my mom allowing me to come to the realization on my own, but I’ll never forget how sad it made me knowing that “magic” was forever gone.

I do agree though, there are so many other things to be outraged at Wal-Mart over, and, so many things going on in this world to be more passionate over. Who knows, maybe that was just the last straw (regarding Wal-Mart) for some of them.

#19

I always told my kids that there was an Easter Bunny but we bought the goodies to fill the baskets with the eggs. We didn’t give gifts when they were young. We would color the eggs and then put them in a big bowl so the Easter Bunny could hide them.
I do have my grrrrs :tap: with WalMart, and so I only go there because there isn’t much around where we live. If I had my way I wouldn’t step in that store ever. :mad:
So let them scream about it but it is a little stupid, scream for the poor children that don’t even get anything at Christmas or Easter or any other days.

#20

I was reading the blog with all the replies to this particular ad, and I just couldn’t believe that with all of the crap in the world, this was the thing that mobilized these women to write letters!

One woman was outraged that her 10 year old son had caught it. It had taken her a lot of work to convince him that the Easter Bunny and Santa were real…because everyone else in his class at school kept making fun of him for still believing.

I get being upset that the “magic” was spoiled, but come on! How is that kid going to feel when he finds out the truth? That he was made fun of by everyone in his class because his mom and dad wanted him to be a little kid a little longer?

I think there are way more important things to be upset over…child trafficking in the sex industry in India, or children living in dumps in South America, kids dying of AIDS in Africa, or the orphanages in China. WRITE LETTERS BECAUSE YOU ARE OUTRAGED ABOUT THAT.