The popular site “The Webkinz” began running ads for movies back in October. Within hours, The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, an advocacy group in Boston, demanded that the site remove all advertising. Susan Linn, the director for the campaign said that it was disappointing that the site is choosing to maximize revenue at the expense of children.
Ganz, the Toronto based private company that owns Webkinz dolls and that introduced them to the marketplace in the spring of 2005, obviously listened to the critics. A few days ago the movie ads disappeared from the page.
Lutz Miller, the owner of Klosters Trading suggested that Ganz might be repositioning the Webkinz line as a mass product so that it could be sold to a larger corporation. He was also quoted as saying: “There you are paying a lot of money for a piece of plush that probably cost Ganz 15 cents”….????
It is clear that a lot of companies and executives do not have a clear understanding of the true costs of manufacturing for these items. A plush of the nature and quality distributed by Ganz is CONSIDERABLY more expensive. I question if Miller has even seen a Webkinz plush in real life and has touched and felt it…if we can produce an item of this nature at this price, he is definitely in the wrong line of business.
