Bryan Cranston Responds To Breaking Bad Toys ‘R’ Us Controversy
Breaking Bad has not shied away from controversial subjects, nor has it ever considered itself to be appropriate for children. A line of Breaking Bad themed action figures that sell at Toys ‘R’ Us, meant for adult fans of the show, continued the show’s controversial themes well after the series finale when a Ft. Myers woman complained that the toys should be removed from store shelves due to their glorification of drug use. Rather than ignore the issue and move on to more important things, Bryan Cranston took some time to respond to Susan Schrivjer’s request, via Twitter.
Bryan Cranston conjured his Breaking Bad persona, Walter White, to issue a witty response to the woman’s ridiculous request for removal of the action figures.
“‘Florida mom petitions against Toys ‘R Us over Breaking Bad action figures.’ I’m so mad, I’m burning my Florida Mom action figure in protest”
The Breaking Bad action figures are intended to be sold to children 15 years of age and older and are merchandised with other adult oriented toys within the stores. Toys ‘R’ Us has not removed the toys from their shelves and have not shown an interest in doing so. The limited quantities that are available are expected to sell out by the end of the holiday season.
In response to Toys ‘R’ Us’s failure to comply with Shrivjer’s request to remove the Breaking Bad action figures, she has started a petition for their removal on Change.org. The petition has received over 7,000 signatures thus far.
Toys ‘R’ Us responded to the petition and justified their reasoning for keeping the figures on the shelf.
“The products you reference are carried in very limited quantities and the product packaging clearly notes that the items are intended for ages 15 and up. Items from this TV series are located in the adult action figure area of our stores.”
Shrivjner feels that the toys will influence children towards a trend of breaking the law and ultimately placing them in a situation where they will be wearing “an orange jumpsuit.” However, she does not speak to any other violent themed toys, such as pro wrestling figures, toy space guns, or Barbie’s influence on a young girl’s vision of how she should look. The overall basis of her request, although viewed seriously, seems to have no merit or impact on the decision to remove of keep the figures on the shelves. Instead, she may unintentionally be drawing attention to them, possibly coercing their removal via increased sales.
What do you think? Is it really an issue?
[Photo Courtesy: Gawker]
