Many people have been outraged by a promotion released by toy company, Bright Starts, recently.
The promotion featured a pill box filled with candy, called “giggle pills,” that were handed out at a recent blogging conference.
Conference goers soon voiced their displeasure at the inappropriate promotion and Bright Starts released a statement saying: “Our ‘prescription for laughter’ in a pill bottle was part of a booth experience designed to support Bright Starts’ ‘Fun Comes First’ campaign, which also featured a ‘Baby Laugh Index’ quiz and a ‘dress as a baby’ photo booth – all very tongue-in-cheek reminders of the importance of baby laughter. Once we realised that the giveaways were concerning to some, we immediately stopped passing them out. We certainly understand and regret any misunderstanding this has caused, and welcome the opportunity to visit further should that be helpful.”
One such mum, Morgan Shanahan, took to her blog, The 818, to voice her opinion on the incident, saying: “How many people did this concept go through before you allowed your PR team to hand out pill bottles filled with candy for parents of small children to carry home alongside branded stuffed animals and cookies with hosting company logos on them? ... Pills are not funny. They’re not toys. They’re not even swag. They’re deadly when placed in the wrong hands. So what were you thinking Bright Starts?”
Do you think that the candy pill boxes were tongue-in-cheek or just plain inappropriate?
Image via Morgan Shanahan
