News & Reporting

Wal-Mart is about to start selling toys based on the Bible, according to a story in USAToday. The giant retailer will sell "a set of 3-inch figures based on Daniel in the lion's den for about $7. A 12-inch talking Jesus doll is about $15. And 14-inch Samson or Goliath action figures are about $20."

Why do corporations such as film studios, publishers, and big-box stores target Christians? Because that's where the money is–or at least a lot of it. USAToday notes,

"It's the first time the world's largest retailer has carried a full line of religious toys. 'We're seeing interest from parents in faith-enriching toys,' says Melissa O'Brien, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman.

"Religious products have become a multibillion-dollar business, and the toy move comes as it targets a younger audience. Fox recently created FoxFaith, a 20th Century Fox unit to distribute family movies with Christian themes. In January, Universal Pictures will release The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything - A VeggieTales Movie, based on the spiritual characters by Big Idea."

...

"About one-sixth of Wal-Mart's 3,300 stores will carry the One2believe line, which will get 2 feet of toy aisle shelf space, says O'Brien.

"One way Wal-Mart decided where to carry them, she says: Stores that sell a lot of Bibles will carry the new line.

"'We view this as an opportunity to reach that audience,'" she says."

...

"Since 9/11, there's been a surge in faith-based products, says Bob Starnes, vice president of licensing at Big Idea, the firm behind VeggieTales. That's because most Americans have a 'faith perspective,' he says.

"Laurie Schacht, president of The Toy Book, a toy industry publication, says some parents also are dissatisfied with toys from conventional toymakers: 'There are a lot of wild things out there. Parents want to give kids wholesomeness.'"

Call me an old curmudgeon, but I'm tired of being pandered to as just another market segment. Yes, I appreciate the fact that some of this culture's movers and shakers have finally ...

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