Easter Bunny/WalMart Scandal

msoebel · 03-19-2008, 11:24 AM

Okay, so on another forum, it was brought to my attention that many, many mothers are furious with WalMart for their latest Easter commercial. In this commercial, the mom looks at the camera and says something along the lines of "I love Wal Mart because now I can put so much more into their baskets!"

And now, a bunch of mommies are furious because their kids caught that and asking questions about the reality of the Easter Bunny. And I don't mean, they are a little cranky. I am talking about cussing out WalMart, writing letters and talking about boycotting, because WalMart "took away their child's innocence".

I will reserve my opinion for a few posts, so as not to sway public opinion.

Silver · 03-19-2008, 05:15 PM

Eh.. it's a little disenchanting of Walmart to do that, but IMHO, there's lots of other reasons to dislike Walmart besides an easter commercial. (As of last week, I now have THREE super Walmarts within a 15 minute drive.)

And, kids gotta learn someday. If a kid is wise enough to pick up on the fact that the mom on tv just said she makes her kids' easter baskets, well... maybe the kid is old enough to learn the truth, ya think?

Sunshine's Mom · 03-19-2008, 05:24 PM

See, for me, the Easter Bunny wasn't like Santa Claus. Santa brought presents. Not all of them, but the toys really. Now, the Easter Bunny, on the other hand - in my house we colored eggs and left them on a table. The Easter Bunny hid the eggs for us to find and hid a few of those plastic eggs that open with candy in them. We always knew that mom and dad packed the baskets. That was their Easter gift to us.

I can understand the mom's outrage, but I have to agree with Silver that if the kids are old enough to understand what was said, maybe they're old enough to be told.

On a side note re: Christmas. Friends of mine have told me that with regard to gifts that come from Santa for the kids, they always told the kids that although Santa brings the gifts, mom and dad have to pay him back, so they won't be able to get everything they want and should stick to a few special things. I think that's a cool idea for cash-strapped parents.

iza · 03-19-2008, 05:25 PM

Kids will discover one day that the Easter bunny isn't real, one way or another.

I don't have kids so maybe I don't understand... I guess it's a bit sad to learn it this way, but I really don't get all this drama!

I never believed in Santa and the Easter bunny as a kid. I liked these characters very much and it was a lot of fun to pretend, but I always knew it was my parents who brought the gifts. Yet, I'm a perfectly normal person... I think.

I remember distinctively as a kid telling some adults I believed in Santa even if I didn't. I knew it would please them, they would find it very cute and I would get some attention. And it worked. Kids are a lot smarter than we think.

If only people were getting as worked up about poverty, hunger in the world, wars, injustice... oh well.

kellyh57 · 03-19-2008, 05:57 PM

Our local news did a story on how the tooth fairy's rates are going up. They did pretty well at not saying anything to lead to the fact that the tooth fairy is the parent. Then, they interviewed people on the street. They were commenting that they would have to start giving more, they couldn't afford it, etc. I'm so glad my kids weren't paying attention!

As far as the Easter Bunny and Santa, we "help" them out with buying presents and stuff if my kids see stuff we bought from them. My sister used to tell her kids that the present was for a cousin. Then one Christmas, my nephew asked where this and that were that they bought for said cousin (which were identical to the ones he got from Santa). Sis had a lot of explaining to do!

Kelly

Knitting_Guy · 03-19-2008, 06:03 PM

The Easter Bunny isn't real???!!!!

vaknitter · 03-19-2008, 06:13 PM

If I remember correctly they ran a very similar ad at Christmas. Personally I think the commercials are crazy. I agree that if a child is watching a tv commericial close enough to understand what mom says then maybe they're a little too hold to still believe in the easter bunny. Of course all the Easter Bunny ever did at my house was hide a few eggs with candy in them - we never got GIFTS

stitchwitch · 03-19-2008, 06:38 PM

I agree with Iza. We had the same outlook as kids it appears.

Natrasha · 03-19-2008, 08:05 PM

As a mom, I'm more offended by the commercial's implication that I need to provide my kids with "more" of Walmart's garbage.

PCwombat · 03-19-2008, 08:29 PM

Does it make me a bad person if I find that sort of amusing? I agree that if the kids are able to figure out what the commercial means, and the parents aren't able to explain around it, the kids might be a bit too old to still believe. Then again, being Jewish, I have no idea when kids stop believing in the Easter Bunny or Santa. Apparently when I was little, my parents used to tell me not to go around telling the truth about Santa. And once in kindergarten, they had some guy dressed as Santa come visit, and I remember being so afraid that he'd find out I was Jewish and get mad at me.