JKR

While nostalgically thinking about the most disappointing packaging I ever encountered under the Christmas tree, one toy sprung to mind: the advertisements for “Super Flight Deck” and an excitingly big box primed me for some serious parent pestering in the mid-seventies. But the dynamic on-pack image fell far short of reality – a tangle of fishing wire, impossible construction instructions, and a rather lame experience once play began.

However, as this blog isn’t “I 1970” what’s my point? Only that it’s amazing how little times have changed in this particular sector. A recent trip to Hamleys was full of the same “artists’ impressions” which promise more than the toy is going to deliver. All decodable to an informed adult eye, but as persuasive to an easily excited nipper as ever. Case in point, this Scalextric pack from Amazon (nice dirt getting kicked up on the image, but an experience unlikely to be replicated on the plastic track). Next to it the box which seduced me back in the day – sharing a similar sense of over promise. Does it matter? Well, life would be dreary if all toys were packaged sans imagination or flair – the box was half the fun. I suppose being let down by a product which does not deliver on the packaging promise is a sad little lesson best learned early…but it’s surprising that while we hear much about advertising standards in such communication, the reality seems so little changed.