Is GoldieBlox Really the Golden Standard for Girl’s Toys?

GoldieBlox has become known as the “anti-pink” toy for girls aiming to get women interested in STEM programs, but it is not a truly “neutral” toy, in any sense of the word.

Controversy has spread over GoldieBlox’s viral advertising techniques. The company rewrote the words of Beastie Boys’ song “Girls” to be about empowering girls. However, the company was forced to remove the music from their advertisement due to copyright infringement and because Adam Yauch, a Beastie Boy who has died, had requested in his will that the song not be used in advertisements.

Media has truly been carrying this product which is funded by a kickstarter. It was cast into the media again recently as the first small business to have a Super Bowl commercial through an Intuit initiative and has used YouTubers, like popular vlogger Shaycarl, to increase the visibility of the product. Some news websites and blogs have even accused the company of causing controversy on purpose to promote the product or saying that the product is not as good as the advertising.

Blogger Amanda Clayman wrote, “It’s like the great capitalist trifecta when the product, message, and need all sync up to something socially positive. But in this case I feel like the need and message are galloping off into the sunset, while the product sort of limps along behind.”

In addition, the product cannot claim to be entirely “anti-pink” as it features many girly colors and girls who are in pageants or are princesses. However, others say it is sneaky feminism; drawing girls in with pink and then teaching them about engineering.

“You cannot create a toy meant to break down stereotypes when you start off with the ideal that ‘we know all girls love princesses,’” Melissa Atkins Wardy told Slate, “When we use princess culture, pinkification, and beauty norms to sell STEM toys to girls and fool ourselves that we are amazing and progressive and raising an incredible generation of female engineers we continue to sell our girls short. It is the equivalent of covering broccoli in melted processed cheese and thinking we’ve been served a very healthy meal.”

The product has also being criticized for being cheaply made and having very little flexibility for creating things outside of what the provided stories tells consumers to create. The stories are suppose to be a vehicle to get girls interested in engineering, so they can get creative and create their own designs. However, the purpose is defeated if the stories are about pageant queens and the toy is not flexible enough to handle a variety of new creative designs.