Last month, I did something I almost never do. I saw a picture of something in a magazine, decided Caedmon had to have it, read some reviews (I hadn't completely lost it), and went out and bought it all in the same day. That product was the Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo. Since I am trying (trying being the operative word) to take a minimalist/natural approach to this whole mothering thing (i.e. wooden and cloth toys rather than plastic and only what we need), I felt really guilty even as I was standing in line to purchase it. Well, it turns out the people in the reviews must have much larger 2 month olds than I did (not surprising since he is in the 40th percentile for length and 10th percentile for weight) because he was way to small for it and just flopped around. But that's all beside the point. Here's where my issue with Fisher Price comes in...the following is from a post I made to the June Firefly group on iVillage not long after I bought it:
The picture on the box of the jumperoo shows the dragonfly standing straight up. When I got it home and assembled it, it just flopped over. Thinking I had a defective firefly, I called Fisher Price. They informed me that they just made it stand up for the picture, it's supposed to flop over. Now, I know this is a small thing, but isn't that false advertising. The firefly looks broke just hanging there, and when you pay as much for a toy as the jumperoo costs, you should get what they advertise it as. I'll be a bit more leery of Fisher Price in the future. For the price they charge, their toys seem a bit cheap looking. Anyway, I hope this helps anyone considering it. I may have bought it anyway, but it would be nice to have known before hand.
Here's what it looks like on the box:
Here's what it actually looks like (by the way, that look is Caedmon wondering why his semi-crunchy mom bought him this obnoxious piece of crap that is probably full of phthalates and BPA):
So there's my experience with Fisher Price. But I've also read more and more that they won't disclose their ingredients and instead try to convince parents that there is nothing wrong with phthalates and BPA (both known hormone disrupters). Here's a link to a blog I read that pretty much cinched my decision to not give any more money to Fisher Price (at least until Caedmon starts asking Santa for the newest Tickle-Me-Elmo...dang you Sesame Street and your combination of educational value and childhood nostalgia):
SafeMama: Boycotting Fisher Price
And that is all I have to say about that.
2 comments:
Well written article.
Thank you for saving me some time. I just pulled out the wilted dragonfly myself and was about to call Fischer Price (or head back to Target) until I read your blog. I have to say though that it defies logic and common sense that they would actually intentionally manufacture something like that and apply some sort of stiffening agent to all of the propaganda and photos. More likely it came back from the manufacturer a little different from expected and they asked the PR people to sell it as is -- dead dragonflies are good for cognitive skills, etc. Yeah, right!
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