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I was in the gift shop at the Pacific Science Center (Seattle) two months ago. The Buckyball demo video was playing on the corner of the sales counter, surround

by msg 14y ago

I was in the gift shop at the Pacific Science Center (Seattle) two months ago. The Buckyball demo video was playing on the corner of the sales counter, surrounded by the other science toys and kits that the museum sells. So I feel this claim of "marketing to adults" is somewhat disingenuous.

jack-r-abbit 14y ago
When I was in high school there was a gas station on the edge of town that was very relaxed about the legal age for purchasing cigarettes. But I never blamed Camel for that. ;)
- tptacek 14y ago
  Camel's marketing of cigarettes to children is a huge issue.
  - jack-r-abbit 14y ago
    I happened to smoke Camel's back then so that is the brand I stated in my tale. But my friend smoked some nasty unknown clove crap he also purchased at this gas station. My point was that you can't always blame the manufacturer for how the product is placed/sold/controlled once it reaches the retailer. When I worked at a convenient store in college, we set up the displays and put up the window posters... not some company rep or anything. I would never expect all the different suppliers to come by every time we switched stuff around to make sure their product was not too close to the candy aisle. So I would not expect the Bucky Balls people to go to every retailer to make sure they are not selling them to kids. That is just not a reasonable expectation to have.
    - msg 14y ago
      I don't think this is about "blaming the manufacturer" for the behavior of retailers. My anecdata is that they distributed their product to the gift shop of what is, overall, a kid and preteen museum. For adults, there is a King Tut exhibit and an IMAX theater, segregated from the rest. The main flow has animatronic dinosaurs, a bug house, a tide pool, a bunch of touchable exhibits. Kids come through on field trips. So this product is wrong for that retailer. There was probably no location in the store that would have kept it from being seen and wanted by kids. Maybe the Buckyballs guys will say, "hey my hands were tied, I couldn't do that level of due diligence with every store I sell my product to." And the regulator will respond, "hey my hands were tied, I couldn't allow the product to be sold without that level of diligence." That doesn't mean that regulator is somehow being unfair to Buckyballs. It means the laws of physics are being unfair to Buckyballs for not allowing them to create a cool sticky product without health risks to children. Yes, there's a certain amount of proportion that needs to be taken. Yes, more kids die from drowning in backyard pools. But it's not unreasonable to ask that these products (like cigarettes, like prescription drugs) are more difficult for children to acquire at retail.
      - jack-r-abbit 14y ago
        So then the answer is to more strictly enforce the stated age warning. The gift shop should be fined. Bucky Balls doesn't need to be shut down. Stores disregard age ratings on so many things because I don't believe they ever get punished for it. Parents also disregard age warnings but that is their call to make since it is their child. But if they do, there really shouldn't be much they can do about it. That is my opinion. You think whatever you wish.

by msg 14y ago

jack-r-abbit 14y ago

When I was in high school there was a gas station on the edge of town that was very relaxed about the legal age for purchasing cigarettes. But I never blamed Camel for that. ;)

tptacek 14y ago
Camel's marketing of cigarettes to children is a huge issue.
- jack-r-abbit 14y ago
  I happened to smoke Camel's back then so that is the brand I stated in my tale. But my friend smoked some nasty unknown clove crap he also purchased at this gas station. My point was that you can't always blame the manufacturer for how the product is placed/sold/controlled once it reaches the retailer. When I worked at a convenient store in college, we set up the displays and put up the window posters... not some company rep or anything. I would never expect all the different suppliers to come by every time we switched stuff around to make sure their product was not too close to the candy aisle. So I would not expect the Bucky Balls people to go to every retailer to make sure they are not selling them to kids. That is just not a reasonable expectation to have.
  - msg 14y ago
    I don't think this is about "blaming the manufacturer" for the behavior of retailers. My anecdata is that they distributed their product to the gift shop of what is, overall, a kid and preteen museum. For adults, there is a King Tut exhibit and an IMAX theater, segregated from the rest. The main flow has animatronic dinosaurs, a bug house, a tide pool, a bunch of touchable exhibits. Kids come through on field trips. So this product is wrong for that retailer. There was probably no location in the store that would have kept it from being seen and wanted by kids. Maybe the Buckyballs guys will say, "hey my hands were tied, I couldn't do that level of due diligence with every store I sell my product to." And the regulator will respond, "hey my hands were tied, I couldn't allow the product to be sold without that level of diligence." That doesn't mean that regulator is somehow being unfair to Buckyballs. It means the laws of physics are being unfair to Buckyballs for not allowing them to create a cool sticky product without health risks to children. Yes, there's a certain amount of proportion that needs to be taken. Yes, more kids die from drowning in backyard pools. But it's not unreasonable to ask that these products (like cigarettes, like prescription drugs) are more difficult for children to acquire at retail.
    - jack-r-abbit 14y ago
      So then the answer is to more strictly enforce the stated age warning. The gift shop should be fined. Bucky Balls doesn't need to be shut down. Stores disregard age ratings on so many things because I don't believe they ever get punished for it. Parents also disregard age warnings but that is their call to make since it is their child. But if they do, there really shouldn't be much they can do about it. That is my opinion. You think whatever you wish.