Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Super Bowl Commercial for Girls' Toys? Maybe...

I threw a post up on LinkedIn yesterday about GoldieBlox, my new favorite toy company/business (partly because I rallied people to vote for this company in the contest and we were successful!!):
For the first time, a small business will have a commercial on the Big Game. That's right, a small business will have a slot in the Super Bowl. GoldieBlox, Inc. has made it into the top 4 businesses vying for this coveted commercial time slot. GoldieBlox, Inc. makes construction toys marketed to girls with the express purpose of getting more girls excited about math and science and ultimately interested in pursuing careers in engineering. After all, as GoldieBlox, Inc. founder Debbie Sterling is quick to point out, we're not suffering from a national shortage of princesses, are we? https://www.smallbusinessbiggame.com/Unfortunately, the commercial is causing all kinds of controversy because of the parody of The Beastie Boys song "Girls" used in the original commercial:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2013/11/goldieblox-toy-company-pulls-girls-viral-ad-after-beastie-boys-dispute/

If we want to empower women, one very effective way to do so is to get YOUNG women/girls focused on something besides how they look, makeup, and boys. GoldieBlox is a company that gets this concept. Booyaa!!!