After Kmart decided to walk a different path when it comes to advertising kids' toys, several shoppers and parents couldn’t help but share their sentiments on it.

As part of the retail giant’s ‘July Family Moments’ campaign on Facebook, they featured boy and girl models playing with popular toys – but with a surprising twist that certainly made a compelling statement.

They went beyond the traditional idea that girls and boys should be limited to playing with toys that are ‘appropriate’ for their gender.

The boy model was featured playing with a Barbie doll while rocking a unisex “awesome” jumper. On the other hand, the girl model was shown with two dinosaur figurines from a Jurassic World box.

Kmart’s deliberate promotion was released ahead of the school holidays and has captured the attention of many, with thousands of shoppers showing their support for the retail giant’s step towards inclusivity.

Gender-neutral advertisements. Source: Kmart Australia​

Several parents have shared moving stories about how their children had been positively impacted by the advertisement.

“It’s good to see these kinds of ads. My son plays Barbies with his sister and my daughter plays cars with her brother. It really shouldn’t matter as all they’re doing is being a kid,” one mum said.

“My son loves unicorns and he saw a poster of a little boy playing with a unicorn and he told me ‘boys can play with them too’. I said ‘yep, they sure can’. He’s also getting a doll house play house for his birthday,” another chimed.

“I love it. My daughter doesn’t like Barbies but loves dinosaurs,” a third wrote, while another added: “I love stuff like this. Little things like this are so important.”

Kmart’s Head of Marketing Rennie Freer responded to feedback, saying that the retailer was “really proud” of its gender-neutral advertising.

“At Kmart, we strive to foster an inclusive environment, so that all of our customers and team members feel represented and celebrated when visiting us. We do this by offering a variety of great quality products, at our famously low prices that everyone can enjoy,” Mrs Freer shared.

“We’re really proud to reflect this in our latest July Family Moments campaign, as we know, our young customers like to play with a range of different products and share diverse interests regardless of their gender,”

“We will continue to take this into consideration across all of our customer touch-points, such as marketing, advertising and our product packaging, now and into the future.”

Kmart’s Down Syndrome dolls. Source: eBay​

But this isn’t the first time Kmart has been praised for launching an inclusive range of toys as they previously released Down Syndrome dolls and Guide Dogs Australia dolls.

“We know one in five people in Australia have a disability and we want our product ranges to reflect that,” Kmart’s Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Marcelle Harrison, said at the time.

“To truly represent the communities we operate in. Part of that means creating dolls that reflect the people who shop in our stores; the people who are part of everyday Australia,”

Kmart CEO John Gualtieri also previously jumped in on the discussion, explaining that the inclusive dolls were made for everyone to enjoy and not just for kids with disabilities.

“It can help form a positive self-image, it can teach acceptance, and it can help children learn more about people different from themselves,” Mr Gualtieri said.

“But we know there is always work to be done in this space. We are committed to constantly evolving and expanding our range of diversity through our products in-store.”

What are your thoughts on Kmart’s move? Share them with us in the comments!

Watch a short clip of Kmart’s gender-neutral promotion below:

Source: Kmart Australia (Facebook)​

 

[JayKay]

I think children play with whatever interests them.
My daughter was an only child until the age of 4.
At 3 & 4 year- old kinder, she did not play in the doll's corner or with the girlie dress-ups or the play kitchen toys.
She played with one other little boy in the block corner, building bridges and tunnels, having the time of their lives together.
Even the other boys didn't play with the blocks, they preferred cars and super heroes costumes.

 

[pienaar]

So

After Kmart decided to walk a different path when it comes to advertising kids' toys, several shoppers and parents couldn’t help but share their sentiments on it.

As part of the retail giant’s ‘July Family Moments’ campaign on Facebook, they featured boy and girl models playing with popular toys – but with a surprising twist that certainly made a compelling statement.

They went beyond the traditional idea that girls and boys should be limited to playing with toys that are ‘appropriate’ for their gender.

The boy model was featured playing with a Barbie doll while rocking a unisex “awesome” jumper. On the other hand, the girl model was shown with two dinosaur figurines from a Jurassic World box.

Kmart’s deliberate promotion was released ahead of the school holidays and has captured the attention of many, with thousands of shoppers showing their support for the retail giant’s step towards inclusivity.

Gender-neutral advertisements. Source: Kmart Australia​

Several parents have shared moving stories about how their children had been positively impacted by the advertisement.

“It’s good to see these kinds of ads. My son plays Barbies with his sister and my daughter plays cars with her brother. It really shouldn’t matter as all they’re doing is being a kid,” one mum said.

“My son loves unicorns and he saw a poster of a little boy playing with a unicorn and he told me ‘boys can play with them too’. I said ‘yep, they sure can’. He’s also getting a doll house play house for his birthday,” another chimed.

“I love it. My daughter doesn’t like Barbies but loves dinosaurs,” a third wrote, while another added: “I love stuff like this. Little things like this are so important.”

Kmart’s Head of Marketing Rennie Freer responded to feedback, saying that the retailer was “really proud” of its gender-neutral advertising.

“At Kmart, we strive to foster an inclusive environment, so that all of our customers and team members feel represented and celebrated when visiting us. We do this by offering a variety of great quality products, at our famously low prices that everyone can enjoy,” Mrs Freer shared.

“We’re really proud to reflect this in our latest July Family Moments campaign, as we know, our young customers like to play with a range of different products and share diverse interests regardless of their gender,”

“We will continue to take this into consideration across all of our customer touch-points, such as marketing, advertising and our product packaging, now and into the future.”

Kmart’s Down Syndrome dolls. Source: eBay​

But this isn’t the first time Kmart has been praised for launching an inclusive range of toys as they previously released Down Syndrome dolls and Guide Dogs Australia dolls.

“We know one in five people in Australia have a disability and we want our product ranges to reflect that,” Kmart’s Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Marcelle Harrison, said at the time.

“To truly represent the communities we operate in. Part of that means creating dolls that reflect the people who shop in our stores; the people who are part of everyday Australia,”

Kmart CEO John Gualtieri also previously jumped in on the discussion, explaining that the inclusive dolls were made for everyone to enjoy and not just for kids with disabilities.

“It can help form a positive self-image, it can teach acceptance, and it can help children learn more about people different from themselves,” Mr Gualtieri said.

“But we know there is always work to be done in this space. We are committed to constantly evolving and expanding our range of diversity through our products in-store.”

What are your thoughts on Kmart’s move? Share them with us in the comments!

Watch a short clip of Kmart’s gender-neutral promotion below:

Source: Kmart Australia (Facebook)​

sad about this!!! Children can play with each other’s toys - doon’t need special ones

 

[Noraya]

My son was allowed to,play with whatever he liked, so he had a doll and a pram when he was just under 2 years old, had cars and barbie dolls in pre school as well as lego and a model train once he started school. We just never talked about it, it was "normal". As were his friends of mixed backgrounds, like caucasian mum and african, afro american or asian father or vice versa. It s what s called tolerance, I believe.

 

[lozat54]

After Kmart decided to walk a different path when it comes to advertising kids' toys, several shoppers and parents couldn’t help but share their sentiments on it.

As part of the retail giant’s ‘July Family Moments’ campaign on Facebook, they featured boy and girl models playing with popular toys – but with a surprising twist that certainly made a compelling statement.

They went beyond the traditional idea that girls and boys should be limited to playing with toys that are ‘appropriate’ for their gender.

The boy model was featured playing with a Barbie doll while rocking a unisex “awesome” jumper. On the other hand, the girl model was shown with two dinosaur figurines from a Jurassic World box.

Kmart’s deliberate promotion was released ahead of the school holidays and has captured the attention of many, with thousands of shoppers showing their support for the retail giant’s step towards inclusivity.

Gender-neutral advertisements. Source: Kmart Australia​

Several parents have shared moving stories about how their children had been positively impacted by the advertisement.

“It’s good to see these kinds of ads. My son plays Barbies with his sister and my daughter plays cars with her brother. It really shouldn’t matter as all they’re doing is being a kid,” one mum said.

“My son loves unicorns and he saw a poster of a little boy playing with a unicorn and he told me ‘boys can play with them too’. I said ‘yep, they sure can’. He’s also getting a doll house play house for his birthday,” another chimed.

“I love it. My daughter doesn’t like Barbies but loves dinosaurs,” a third wrote, while another added: “I love stuff like this. Little things like this are so important.”

Kmart’s Head of Marketing Rennie Freer responded to feedback, saying that the retailer was “really proud” of its gender-neutral advertising.

“At Kmart, we strive to foster an inclusive environment, so that all of our customers and team members feel represented and celebrated when visiting us. We do this by offering a variety of great quality products, at our famously low prices that everyone can enjoy,” Mrs Freer shared.

“We’re really proud to reflect this in our latest July Family Moments campaign, as we know, our young customers like to play with a range of different products and share diverse interests regardless of their gender,”

“We will continue to take this into consideration across all of our customer touch-points, such as marketing, advertising and our product packaging, now and into the future.”

Kmart’s Down Syndrome dolls. Source: eBay​

But this isn’t the first time Kmart has been praised for launching an inclusive range of toys as they previously released Down Syndrome dolls and Guide Dogs Australia dolls.

“We know one in five people in Australia have a disability and we want our product ranges to reflect that,” Kmart’s Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Marcelle Harrison, said at the time.

“To truly represent the communities we operate in. Part of that means creating dolls that reflect the people who shop in our stores; the people who are part of everyday Australia,”

Kmart CEO John Gualtieri also previously jumped in on the discussion, explaining that the inclusive dolls were made for everyone to enjoy and not just for kids with disabilities.

“It can help form a positive self-image, it can teach acceptance, and it can help children learn more about people different from themselves,” Mr Gualtieri said.

“But we know there is always work to be done in this space. We are committed to constantly evolving and expanding our range of diversity through our products in-store.”

What are your thoughts on Kmart’s move? Share them with us in the comments!

Watch a short clip of Kmart’s gender-neutral promotion below:

Source: Kmart Australia (Facebook)​

Yawn…..