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[Branduil]

http://sweatpantsandcoffee.com/what-we-love/sweatpants-pop-culture/rey/

Would your son want to play with an action figure of Rey, the central figure in the latest Star Wars film? Would your daughter? It’s too bad they don’t have the choice; Hasbro, among other toymakers, left out the one key female figure in their The Force Awakens game sets. Hasbro says it was to preserve plot secrets, but an industry insider said the choice was deliberate. The insider, who spoke to Sweatpants & Coffee on condition of anonymity, said the decision to exclude Rey was based on marketing assumptions and not for plot reasons.

In January 2015, a number of toy and merchandise vendors descended on Lucasfilm’s Letterman Center in San Francisco. In a series of confidential meetings, the vendors presented their product ideas to tie in with the highly-anticipated new Star Wars film. Representatives presented, pitched, discussed, and agreed upon prototype products. The seeds of the controversies Lucasfilm is facing regarding the marketing and merchandising of The Force Awakens were sown in those meetings, according to the industry insider.

The insider, who was at those meetings, described how initial versions of many of the products presented to Lucasfilm featured Rey prominently. At first, discussions were positive, but as the meetings wore on, one or more individuals raised concerns about the presence of female characters in the Star Wars products. Eventually, the product vendors were specifically directed to exclude the Rey character from all Star Wars-related merchandise, said the insider.

“We know what sells,” the industry insider was told. “No boy wants to be given a product with a female character on it.”

Lucasfilm did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

At the same time, however, it’s increasingly apparent that marketers’ perceptions are seriously out of touch with consumers’ tastes.

“Princess toy sales are in freefall. Disney can’t give away princess toys anymore,” according to the insider. And yet, the insider said, the directive is there: Maintain the sharp boy/girl product division. Marginalize girl characters in items not specifically marketed as girl-oriented.

The toy industry is more gender-divided now than at any time in the past 50 years, according to Elizabeth Sweet, a professor of sociology at the University of California at Davis. She’s a noted authority in the sociology of gender-based toy design and marketing. Analyses of historical toy catalogs show that in the 1970s more than half of toys were not designated as being specifically for one gender, whereas now, very few toys are marketed as gender-neutral, according to Sweet.

Marcotte points back to the deregulation of the advertising industry in the 1980s under Pres. Ronald Reagan as the origination point for the gender-division trend. “Once that happened, toy manufacturers realized they could increase sales by designing toys to be more narrowly targeted. Instead of having just a ball, you could make it pink and put a princess on it; or, paint it blue and put GI Joe on it. Now parents have to buy two sets of toys, one for their daughter and one for their son.”

But that long-term trend has had significant sociological impacts. “Girls and boys do not play together as much as they used to,” Marcotte said. “These gender divisions are hard-coded into their toys and it informs their behavior in ways that has lasting results on their presumptions.”

“I’ve spoken with Disney people, and they were completely blindsided by the reaction to the new Star Wars characters,” Marcotte went on to say. “They put a huge investment into marketing and merchandizing the Kylo Ren character. They presumed he would be the big breakout role from the film. They were completely surprised when it was Rey everyone identified with and wanted to see more of. Now they’re stuck with vast amounts of Kylo Ren product that is not moving, and a tidal wave of complaints about a lack of Rey items.”

Isn't it past time that automation started replacing toy execs? Imagine being given the easiest job in the world(sell Star Wars toys) and failing at it.

 

[PsychBat!]

Gif of dude shaking his butt (with pants on) at the camera: http://i.imgur.com/DYS6ayC.gif

excuses

 

[kingocfs]

excuses

The fuck

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Kylo Ren is kinda too emo or sasuke whatever whiny ass you prefer to be appealing.

 

[Monocle]

Blatant sexism. Another disgusting example of feminazi discrimination against men.

Wait, what?

Kylo Ren is kinda too emo or sasuke whatever whiny ass you prefer to be appealing.

Don't talk shit about Kylo. He has an actual history and arc and coherent motivations in TFA. A great, flawed villain who was clearly set up to evolve into a more intimidating adversary. Justified angst doesn't automatically equal emo, Jesus.

Wrote this post to Linkin' Park.

But seriously, I mean what I said.

 

[N7Commander95]

Gif of dude shaking his butt (with pants on) at the camera: http://i.imgur.com/DYS6ayC.gif

excuses

 

[shink]

Kinda glad they chose poorly and now have to deal with it.

 

[PsychBat!]

More Finn and Rey action figures please.

 

[Messypandas]

They're worried about spoilers, or phase 2 roll-outs or something I imagine. It's not like they have a history of this.

 

[AnathemicOne]

Dumbasses, it's pretty obvious Rey is the lead in the film from advertisements alone and I'm pretty sure Disney clued them in of such as well.

How do you not market the main fucking lead in the film?

 

[MilkyJoe]

No boy wants to be given a female toy?

Are they sure?

 

[Rolanderson]

Who would have thought that people would like the charming and fun main characters that were made to be relatable instead instead of the whiny brat that was the villain.
Not professional marketers apparently...

 

[Shaanyboi]

Even if they wanted to protect the big reveal of the movie, it's not like they were forced into selling a toy with

Spoiler

a lightsaber.

She has her staff, she has her pistol...

These marketing execs are idiots.

 

[Volimar]

Not that I don't think this is possible, maybe even probably what happened but I have trouble with the statement...

The insider, who spoke to Sweatpants & Coffee on condition of anonymity

Cuz leave it to Sweatpants & Coffee to get the scoop! Maybe I'm just sick of unnamed insiders. If you don't have proof then it's just gossip.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Blatant sexism. Another disgusting example of feminazi discrimination against men.

Wait, what?


Don't talk shit about Kylo. He has an actual history and arc and coherent motivations in TFA. A great, flawed villain who was clearly set up to evolve into a more intimidating adversary. Justified angst doesn't automatically equal emo, Jesus.

Wrote this post to Linkin' Park.

But seriously, I mean what I said.

Yeah other characters are lacking a back story, in finn's case he literally has none, but Kylo's story is honestly unjustified. Not to go too much into spoilers but there was never any turmoil with the character as was insinuated by himself as we never saw him actually act like it. Just because he was stammering for a bit while saying it doesn't make him a great flawed villain.

 

[Layell]

I'd believe them more if it didn't happen with all merchandise related to sci-fi, cartoons, and comic book films.

 

[NateDog]

I'm sure we had a thread on this a little while back. Anyway in the Disney Store in Dublin I noticed they only had a select few types of figures and other merchandise from VII for a good few months (November up until about a week ago) and then suddenly the whole layout changed but remained focused on Star Wars and now there are tons of extra figures and other things, including Rey. I'm not sure if that's to do with pressure on Hasbro (and Disney) over it or not or whether it was planned, but judging by the way this store works they normally only make large changes like that for marketing reasons and to tie-in with releases, they never have that much extra merch this late on and there is a bit of a gap between this and another big Disney release.

 

[Kinyou]

If I understand this right is the guy actually accusing Lucasfilm, not the toymakers.

 

[Mindwipe]

Hasbro have a very established track record of doing this with all their properties, so it should be no great surprise.

The product marketing team at Hasbro have also forced the Transformers team to make some exceptionally dumb, shitty moves previously, and held back more female toys for years and years and years.

 

[jackissocool]

Gif of dude shaking his butt (with pants on) at the camera: http://i.imgur.com/DYS6ayC.gif

excuses

Thanks... Fidel Castro?

 

[Jokergrin]

i like female toys

 

[Generic Power Ranger]

I don't think kids really care. If the character is cool, the character is cool. Regardless of everything else.

 

[antonz]

There is an alarming lack of her in advertising material but why do I keep hearing about a lack of figures?

There are at least 3 Rey figures available and considering she has only been in one movie and had a very limited costume set I would say she is off to a far better start than Leia who has Slave Leia, Slave Leia, Slave Leia and sometimes Boushh

 

[PsychBat!]

Thanks... Fidel Castro?

I'm Chicano, you racist

 

[Aiii]

I'm sure we had a thread on this a little while back. Anyway in the Disney Store in Dublin I noticed they only had a select few types of figures and other merchandise from VII for a good few months (November up until about a week ago) and then suddenly the whole layout changed but remained focused on Star Wars and now there are tons of extra figures and other things, including Rey. I'm not sure if that's to do with pressure on Hasbro (and Disney) over it or not or whether it was planned, but judging by the way this store works they normally only make large changes like that for marketing reasons and to tie-in with releases, they never have that much extra merch this late on and there is a bit of a gap between this and another big Disney release.

Are you really that puzzled by this? Movie is the biggest box office hit since Avatar, of course they're gonna stock up on merchandise.

 

[cj_iwakura]

I'm reminded of that Feminist Frequency video about gender stereotyping and legos(which is a great watch).

Things'll never change if society keeps perpetuating that line of thinking.

 

[jackissocool]

I'm Chicano, you racist

Well if that's you you look like Fidel from this angle. The hat exaggerates it.

Not an insult though, young Fidel was real handsome.

 

[AlStrong]

Hard to do this with only male characters, unless they're trying to promote something different.

 

[PsychBat!]

Well if that's you you look like Fidel from this angle. The hat exaggerates it.

Oh that's not me, his name is Ethan from h3h3 Productions. That gif is from this vid.

 

[Moff]

Lego gave her an own set with her bike right at the launch, though. Finn didn't get one.
but hasbro apparently fucked up

I don't even understand it, I always liked the female figures in toy sets when I was a kid, as rare as that was, but I guess I was weird

 

[DerZuhälter]

The insider, who spoke to Sweatpants & Coffee on condition of anonymity,

The insider, who spoke to Sweatpants & Coffee

insider

Sweatpants & Coffee

Yeah sure.

 

[MrBadger]

Don't talk shit about Kylo. He has an actual history and arc and coherent motivations in TFA. A great, flawed villain who was clearly set up to evolve into a more intimidating adversary. Justified angst doesn't automatically equal emo, Jesus.

Wrote this post to Linkin' Park.

But seriously, I mean what I said.

Nah, villains with flaws and character traits are bad. Every villain just needs to look really cool like Darth Maul and Boba Fett. Doesn't matter if they die like a bitch so long as they don't get more than 2 lines

A lot of people I've spoken to about the film didn't like Kylo Ren because he was a "whiney brat". I don't get it.

 

[Messypandas]

NA lot of people I've spoken to about the film didn't like Kylo Ren because he was a "whiney brat". I don't get it.

Well he did throw tantrums a lot.

 

[Amalthea]

Hard to do this with only male characters, unless they're trying to promote something different.

Oh we all know that some did. It was a fabulous secret that was revealed to the boys of the 80's.

 

[captainpat]

To be fair though don't toys have to be made a like a 1 year+ in advanced. A lot of this stuff sounds like toy manufacturers being kept in the dark.

 

[jackissocool]

Oh that's not me, his name is Ethan from h3h3 Productions. That gif is from this vid.

Figured it wasn't you. How disappointing what he actually looks like.

Anyways, on topic - I'm just so tired of this shit I don't even know what to say anymore

 

[Dark Ninja]

Dumbasses, it's pretty obvious Rey is the lead in the film from advertisements alone and I'm pretty sure Disney clued them in of such as well.

How do you not market the main fucking lead in the film?

It looks like they made right call to stop spoilers, people still think Finn is a main character.

 

[ClosingADoor]

They put a huge investment into marketing and merchandizing the Kylo Ren character. They presumed he would be the big breakout role from the film. They were completely surprised when it was Rey everyone identified with and wanted to see more of.

Huh? Did the people at Disney see the movie? How could anybody think people would think Kylo Ren is cooler with his daddy issues then Rey being badass and relatable.

 

[shanshan310]

So glad the public is speaking up about this. It's about time we had a market response to complaints about the "boys don't like girl characters" line they keep pulling. Sorry Hasbro the mob has spoken. You can quit being afraid to try new things now.

 

[Violet_0]

I'm surprised that they thought Rey wouldn't be really popular. Everything about this character is designed to be super crowd-pleasing. I've seen 30-something year old men wanting to be just like Rey when they grow up

 

[Poona]

Nah, villains with flaws and character traits are bad. Every villain just needs to look really cool like Darth Maul and Boba Fett. Doesn't matter if they die like a bitch so long as they don't get more than 2 lines

A lot of people I've spoken to about the film didn't like Kylo Ren because he was a "whiney brat". I don't get it.

Yeah, Darth Maul and Boba Fett do have a good image. Kylo Ren to me just seems like someone wanting to dress up as Darth Vader. He was alright until he took off his mask.

Kinda sick of seeing his image as every time I see his mask now, I just think he's a wannabe who is playing pretend.

Give me heaps more Rey over pretender Kylo Ren.

 

[nephilimdj]

Had the opposite for myself, its hard to find any cute finn items for a toddler as a gift of my African (yes they live in Africa, not being racist) friend, there is 2 plushies and both look horrid (example)

 

[Renekton]

Nah, villains with flaws and character traits are bad. Every villain just needs to look really cool like Darth Maul and Boba Fett. Doesn't matter if they die like a bitch so long as they don't get more than 2 lines

A lot of people I've spoken to about the film didn't like Kylo Ren because he was a "whiney brat". I don't get it.

I just wished he was stronger.

 

[Hex]

The article may be true, it may not but....
This..

“Princess toy sales are in freefall. Disney can’t give away princess toys anymore,” according to the insider.

is complete horse shit and makes me question the validity of the "insider:"
A certain audience will blindly leap all over it with "I TOLD YOU SO" and not even give a shit whether the "insider" has any kind of proof but again, that line is horse shit.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

I find it hard to believe that Disney (makers or Frozen) bought Lucasfilm and gave them this much rope to hang themselves by avoiding female merchandising. This is the same company that erased the EU for product synergy.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

I mean, no shit. It's not like this is anything close to new. Hasbro's argument was always obvious bullshit, particularly since it didn't make any sense (scavenger Rey toys wouldn't have spoiled a damn thing).

 

[El Topo]

I'm surprised that they thought Rey wouldn't be really popular. Everything about this character is designed to be super crowd-pleasing. I've seen 30-something year old men wanting to be just like Rey when they grow up

I mean, if I look e.g. at Feige (from Marvel) and his comments on female heroes, I can't say I'd be surprised if at least some people in charge at Disney did not expect Rey to be popular. I don't really see why I should trust whoever wrote this article though.

 

[PeskyToaster]

Why would they invite Sweatpants and Coffee to their super secret meeting?

 

[Monocle]

I just wished he was stronger.

He displayed force powers never seen in the movies before now and

Spoiler

disarmed and severely wounded Finn, just moments after he decided to stop toying with him.

Pretty damn strong for a dark Jedi with incomplete training.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

I find it hard to believe that Disney (makers or Frozen) bought Lucasfilm and gave them this much rope to hang themselves by avoiding female merchandising. This is the same company that erased the EU for product synergy.

Lucasfilm doesn't make toys (though Disney does - see below), or even design them. Hasbro and other licensees do, and as long as Lucasfilm approves the designs passed their way they're fine, meaning Hasbro generally does what they want.

Meanwhile, Disney-produced toy lines actually had plenty of Rey figures. Hasbro produces more though, and (Disney Infinity aside) is sold in more places.

Lego is also an example of a licensee with plenty of Rey.