babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
Climate Change Deniers Mad Toy Store Ruins Christmas
Climate change deniers are calling for a massive boycott of Build-A-Bear Workshop.
So what did they do, send some teddy bears to the Obama kids? Sponsor a meeting in Copenhagen? Nah – the toy company put up a webisode on its site featuring Santa telling kids “global warming is a serious situation.”
That’s it. They admitted global warming exists. And they used Santa to send that message to kids.
Sites like Climate Change Fraud are calling it “indoctrination of children through the use of scare tactics,” and the Liberty Guardian calls it Beargate.
“It” is really three webisodes that follow some kids (penguins and polar bears) on a school project about global warming – and its affect on the earth. The part that’s offended bloggers comes in part two of the three-part series, when a polar bear informs Santa the situation means the North Pole could melt away before Christmas. Have a look:
Says one writer, “scaring your children with a message that is not only despicable, but absolutely false.” Let’s set aside all the bickering about climate change and whether it exists for a moment . . . have they watched any Christmas movies lately?
They warn our kids that Christmas will be canceled if Santa doesn’t get married. Where it will be canceled because a grumpy green creature is sneaking into houses and stealing all the presents. Where it will be canceled if two guys named Heat Miser and Snow Miser can’t just stop fighting and save the day.
Really, we’re worried about someone lying to our kids? Not to mention that little known fact – come on, lean in . . . Santa doesn’t exist.
Regardless – the fearmongering on the other side of the fence has worked. As Build a Bear’s corporate release responding to the matter states, “Our goal is to entertain and engage the imagination of children with our stuffed animals, our store environment, and online. Our intention with the Polar Bear story was to inspire children, through the voices of our animal characters, to make a difference in their own individual ways. We did not intend to politicize the topic of global climate change or offend anyone in any way. The webisodes concluded this week with Santa successfully leaving on his journey to deliver gifts around the world. The webisodes will no longer be available on the site.”
Does that response make you cheer for Build-A-Bear or want to set up your own boycott?
Image: mot the barber via flickr
More by this author:
Go Back To Strollerderby
5 Comments
[...] doesn’t exist are boycotting Build-A-Bear Workshop over a holiday cartoon on its website. Strollerderby lays it [...]
Netsol Blogs » Blog Archive » School change, climate change and teddy bears commented on Dec 27 09 at 10:01 pmAmanda B. commented on Dec 28 09 at 11:08 amThe question is, why is a stuffed animal company diving into this controversial issue in the first place? By the way, I don’t think that the phrase “Climate Change Deniers” is quite accurate. “Man-Made Climate Change Theory Skeptics” might be better. Everyone knows that Earth’s climate changes over time – it’s just that not all of us are sold on the idea that man’s actions are causing potentially catastrophic changes in the climate.
jenny tries too hard commented on Dec 31 09 at 9:16 amAnd this, boys and girls, is known as “responding to the customer”. Customers made their feelings known, expressed their intention to move business elsewhere if the webisodes continued, and Build-A-Bear decided that the business from these customers was more valuable to them than the webisodes. It’s not about fearmongering or whether climate change is man-caused; it’s about a business doing what works to keep its customers.
Eric commented on Dec 31 09 at 4:19 pmIt’s a real head scratcher as to why a company would want to go and step in something like this anyway. Regardless of which side you come down on, why would you want to bring controversy on yourself?
edro commented on Mar 18 11 at 10:29 amit is a hoax. What do plants breathe? Carbon dioxide. They also filter out Carbon Monoxide and other gases. what do they exhale? oxygen. The only threat we pose to our planet is through actual poisoning…and even that is done through stupidity. And dont you dare use the polar bears argument. Their population has actually exploded in the past ten years.
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Wendy Michaels 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
5