Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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  • kadybat

    I always forget how binary toy commercials can be until I actually watch one. Why are the girls always freaked out in these commercials? Why can’t there be a little girl hanging out in the lab eating gummy guts with the boys? 

    • http://twitter.com/chrnoble Chris Noble

      My youngest daughter loves the Doctor Dreadful stuff.

    • cdh1971

      Stereotypes seem to be the Language of Advertising. 

      Of course, the L of A does change but I wonder how long we’ll wait to see this sort of gender stereotyping go away. It has really become less obvious, but is it just me or has it become better camouflaged and more clever…insidious?  

      Of course, it’s not like we can make aeons of history and cultural practices change instantly. And yes, I understand and appreciate the ‘Difference’. Viva to It and all of that.

      ————————

      What are little boys made of?
      What are little boys made of?
      Slugs and snails
      And puppy-dogs’ tails,
      That’s what little boys are made of.
      What are little girls made of?
      What are little girls made of?
      Sugar and spice
      And everything nice,
      That’s what little girls are made of.
      (Copypasta from Wikipedia.)

  • Bob Knetzger

    Sure, girls are the obvious casting choice to go “ooooh, gross!” in this kind of commercial but as it turns out girls actually enjoy Doctor Dreadful food toys as much as boys.  Look again:  a boy is the first one to be grossed out (he says; ‘NO!”) …and at the end of the commercial after they’ve made gross looking but fun tasting creations, both the boys AND THE GIRLS are in on the fun and laughing together. The girls ARE hanging out in the lab.

  • jimh

    WE are assuming that the Grays are:

    1) intelligent enough to recognize that our children are NOT regularly cutting open their children and eating their internals

    and

    2) not offended by the toy’s depiction of the same

    because if not

    3) the probings will increase in violence and frequency.

    • The Rizz

      Yeah, but only against children, and I think we’ve already got laws against that sort of thing, so it should all be OK.

    • http://twitter.com/incarnedine_v Dan Hibiki

       Come get some! We’ll use their brains to power our radar.

  • bugmaker

    I had this alien dissection toy from 1986:  http://www.millionaireplayboy.com/toys/dissectanalien.php It is evident that it was created before the standardization of alien mythology in the 90′s. I frikkin love this toy and still have it. Needless to say: want this new set!!!

    • yupgiboy

       Yup! That’s the first thing I thought of. I still have mine, too, tho the slime’s all dried up.

  • Boundegar

    Is this really new?  I could swear I saw this 5-10 years ago…

    • http://twitter.com/incarnedine_v Dan Hibiki

       Yeah but it wasn’t all jiggly.

  • james morrall

    Doctor Dreadful Vs Dr. Horrible… is that fair use? they’re awfully similar…

    • Boundegar

      They both ripped off Einstein, who soon will rise from his grave seeking revenge.