Potty With iPad Stand Takes Home Worst Toy Of The Year Award

This is a thing that exists and people actually pay money for.

A few weeks back we told you about the contenders — from the Monopoly game that’s one huge ad to the virtual Play-Doh — for this year’s TOADY Award for the worst toy of 2013. The people have spoken, and the runaway winner is the iPotty, which sounds like a combination potty/iPad accessory because that’s exactly what it is.

Yes, the toy that teaches your kid not just how to use the toilet, but also to bring $600 electronic devices with him to the toilet… The iPotty ran off with a full 45% of the vote for the dubious honor given away every year by the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood.

“Throughout history, kids have mastered toilet training without touch screens,” said CCFC’s Director, Dr. Susan Linn. “The iPotty is a perfect example of marketers trying to create a need where none exists. In fact, the last thing children need is a screen for every single occasion.”

Folks who voted for the iPotty to win this year’s award say the device only serves to pacify and placate children who are already overexposed to TV and the Internet.

“Toilet learning should be a time of positive interaction between child and caregiver,” explains one voter. “Also, children should be aware of the cues in their bodies as they learn. This toy takes this social/emotional focus out of the process and substitutes the hypnotism of a screen.”

Adds another, “It not only reinforces unhealthy overuse of digital media, it’s aimed at toddlers. We should NOT be giving them the message that you shouldn’t even take your eyes off a screen long enough to pee.”

With 30% of the vote, the runner-up for this year’s TOADY was the VIP Upgrade Membership by The Real Tooth Fairies, which charges users a ridiculous amount of money for an annual subscription to give their kids (we hope) access to a bunch of outfits of online fairies that reinforce harmful gender, body, economic, and cultural stereotypes.

“It’s a hijacking of one of children’s most magical tiny creatures,” complained one voter.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist