Trick or Trick

"They're not serious," says Bob Davidson of Brands On Sale, which is selling Halloween costumes on line: several different "pimp" outfits ("Pimp hat sold separately.") for boys, and a "ho" outfit for girls. No, they're not just for adults: child sizes go down to age 4. The Cerritos, Calif., company says they're selling "fine" at $40-50, but admits there's an uproar over the outfits. They don't care. "We're selling them," Davidson says. "If you don't want to buy one, don't buy one. I'm not going to talk to you about it." Dr. Elisa Medhus, author of Raising Children Who Think for Themselves, says the costumes are degrading. "This is really unbelievable," she says. "Why don't you just dress them up as a dog and put them on a leash?" (Philadelphia Inquirer) ...I guess she didn't look through the entire catalog.