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Randy Cassingham's BlogHistorical Details and Author's Notes from This is True®
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Lolita Midsleeper Combi - Comments
Posted by Gail, California on February 11, 2008:
One junk email I received really threw me: Teddy bears "demonstrating" sex toys and "tools".
Posted by brigid, atlanta on February 11, 2008:
Did you have to take the screen shot with typo off the page? Because I can't see it...
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It's still there. "Orders" is spelled "oders". -rc
Posted by Tommy, Texas on February 11, 2008:
The Mattel vibrating Harry Potter broomstick was a great kids toy too, don't you think?
Posted by Gerard, Enniskillen, N Ireland on February 11, 2008:
I recall one of those Shows with Wacky ads from around the world having a wearable tracker device so Parents could check on a kid's whereabouts...the name of the product? "Little Bugger"!
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The term isn't used a lot in the U.S., so in case someone doesn't "get" the meaning: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugger -rc
Posted by Jess, Canberra on February 11, 2008:
I vaguely recall something called "My First Pole Dancing Set", or something to that effect. It was said to include some play money for tucking into the garter (also included).
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Tesco, another British chain, had the set for sale and dropped it in 2006 after an outcry. -rc
Posted by Sue in Bremerton WA on February 11, 2008:
A few years ago there was a VERY popular song about Barbie -- my 5 year old grand daughter knew every word, with gestures.. but she didn't know what some of the innuendo was, and so I had to talk to her mother about what an almost nasty song it is.
Remember paper dolls? I was looking online one day for some to perhaps give or buy for my granddaughters, and there were three sites offering paper dolls of a totally different type.. nude and scantily dressed 'models' that were actually porn. I don't have a mature filter on my computer, but I don't think it would have mattered anyway.
The little 'Lolita' bed is very cute, too bad it has that name. I'm just glad it isn't Barbie. Smile.
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The 1997 "Barbie Girl" song was from a Danish pop group called Aqua, and they were sued over the song by Mattel. I had a great time writing Mattel up for a Stella Award over the suit, since it was so terribly frivolous -- parody is an absolute defense in trademark infringement cases, and there was no possible way for them to win. The case is featured in my Stella Awards book. -rc
Posted by E, Massachusetts on February 12, 2008:
Well, it wasn't as obvious an issue, but I was in a store recently and saw underwear for little girls. On the package? A VERY suggestively posed little girl, in just the underpants, and her arms crossed over her chest!
Posted by Jason in Vancouver BC on February 12, 2008:
Perhaps the people responsible for this bed were Japanese? In Japan there is a whole fashion trend called 'Lolita' which has nothing to do with child abuse. It's all about being girly, pretty, and dressing like a Victorian doll.
I know, because my wife is very into this fashion style. It's very cute and conservative, but tends to result in a lot of confusion here in North America because of the name.
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As the ad shows, the company behind the bed is Scandinavian House Ltd, which is decidedly not Japanese. They're based in Leeds, England, and source most of their furniture of this type from Thuka, a Danish brand with strong British presence. -rc
Posted by Jerry, Bridgeport, CT on February 12, 2008:
Please don't consider this an elitist comment or assume that I am too old and "out of it" (I am 36) but the failure of a store and its supplier and all of the staff involved in design and marketing of the Lolita bed and not a single one of them knew of either the book by Nabakov or the movies or even the song by the group "The Police" ("Don't stand too close to me"). Isn't it amazing that a whole generation of people don't have a clue about an item of literature that has been around in various forms for the last 50 years? Not even to the point of understanding a reference to the name "Lolita" which plainly is connected to only one idea: sex with an underage female.
I love the internet but there has to be an inverse relationship between the rise of this form of communication and the decline of any kind of reading.
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You either hit the nail right on the head (though you omitted reference to the "Lolita" films, including one that got huge publicity in 1997 and starred Jeremy Irons), or they did know all about it and thought it would be a great marketing ploy, and played dumb when reaction was so unfavorable. Frankly, I'm more likely to believe the latter.... -rc
Posted by Ari in Virginia on February 12, 2008:
How 'bout the "Jar Jar Binks Monster Mouth Candy Tongue"? This is a cherry lollipop shaped like the Star Wars character's tongue, with a plastic holder shaped like Jar Jar's head on a tube that shields the sticky candy when you're not actively, um, sucking the tongue.
Read the article that everyone's commenting on, or post a comment about it.