Ah, Sears. The wishlist of little girls and boys at Christmastime. As a kid, I poured over that catalogue for hours, circling toys I dreamt Saint Nick would stash under my tree.
Not once did I covet an item with Playboy bunny branding on it. But friends, it seems the day has sadly come, with Playboy coming to conservative, squeaky Sears.
According to an article in Ballast, a Sears spokesperson is cool with marketing Playboy-branded products to teens and tweens because “arguably it is becoming more mainstream as time passes.”
Sears aren't the only ones pedaling Hugh Hefner memorabilia. The bunny may not connote the playful harpy image Gloria Steinem and Co rallied against back in the day. Still, I would have expected more from Sears.
Are there really 12-year-old girls out there vying for this stuff—from bright pink bedding to blingy bunny-laden handbags.
"I will be the first one to stand up and defend a women's right to her own body," wrote blogger Helen Cleary-Escott. "I completely believe what a woman does with her body is her own business. And what consenting adults do is their own business. As long as it does not involve children or animals, I don't care how you get your jollies."
But even Cleary-Escott draws the line at a Sears-Playboy partnership. Playboy's demographic is men and maybe women who, er, find that sort of look fun; it is not young girls, period.
“You are the Grinch that stole,” wrote Cleary-Escott to Sears.
Please, little girls of Canada, when you find yourselves flicking through the Sears catalogue and circling items on your wishlist in weeks to come, let it include anything free from those perky bunny ears. And parents, pretty please don't put that junk under your tree this Christmas.
Has the Playboy brand lost its sexy edge and become just another meaningless logo? Would you let your daughter walk around with the blingy bunny?
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