Favorite Christmas Present. . . A Pillow Pet
January 7, 2011, 11:10 am
Posted by Cathleen Kaveny
“It’s your Pillow, and a Pet. It’s a Pillow Pet.”
No, I’m not kidding. It’s a big hit among the elementary school set. I only wish I’d thought of it. . . I’d be a lot closer to a beach house someplace warm.
But what does it say about our capitalist system that it produces iPhones (marvelous models of technological innovation) and pillow pets, which fall into the category of singing fish, pet rocks, and chia pets? And come to think of it, why are all these things “pets,” anyway?
Hang on! Pillow Pets are not like chia pets or pet rocks, which were joke gifts for grownups. I assure you, my 4 year old takes her Pillow Pet very seriously, and it delivers exactly what it promised, which is sometimes a stuffed unicorn and sometimes a pillow. It was always the answer to “what do you want for Christmas?” and it’s a big hit even now.
What amazes me is that the highest tech component on a Pillow Pet is a small strip of Velcro — other than that, it could have been invented in 1953. Why now, I wonder? (And, like you, I ask why oh why not by me?)
We bought one of the kids a Pillow Pet, and it’s a big hit. It’s an even bigger hit for the cats – it’s on their latest ranking of Top 10 Places To Nap in the house.
This is capitalism at its most amoral: somebody identified (and/or helped create) a want (I won’t call it a “need” :-)), risked the capital investment to ramp up production and distribution, and hopefully is accumulating wealth and employing a lot of people now.
My nephews got these from Santa last Xmas. Like Mark P’s daughter, they are (or at least were, this time last year) VERY SERIOUS about them. And they could not have been prouder to show them off. Cute and collectible stuffed animals will never go out of style. The nice thing about Pillow Pets (unlike Beanie Babies or Webkinz or whatever other fad you can name) is that there’s not a lot of pressure to “collect ‘em all” — they come in an impressive array of styles, but if you’re meant to think of it as “your pillow,” presumably you’re meant to be satisfied with one.
I notice that the Pillow Pet website has a link complaining about unscrupulous merchants selling imitations that they (incorrectly, of course) refer to as Pillow Pets (Help Us to Combat Pillow Pet Fraud). Perhaps as with the Korzen foundation and its complaints about other people using “the cure” we will now see a round of expensive lawsuits that will drive the price of Pillow Pets (trade mark) beyond the reach of most would-be purchasers.
What would happen if we tried to copyright political, or social, or (Heaven forfend) religious terms? So that Mr. X’s claim to be a “Republican” or a “Democrat” could be challenged in court? Or Ms. Y’s claim to be a Methodist or a Presbyterian or a Lutheran?
Let’s be thankful that we have no one in a position of authority who is trying to identify what persons, or what institutions, can rightly call themselves “Catholic”).
Or did I miss something?
“Or did I miss something.” One would think that all those searching for “a cure” are searching for a cure that is authentic.
Pillow Pets™ plush folding stuffed animals and other plush products are favorites for all ages — from toddlers to teens, expectant mothers to grandmothers! Whether you choose a jungle animal, farm critter or sea creature – or all of the above – Pillow Pets™ plush products are so cute and cuddly, you won’t want to put them down!
Big Bux Bonanza!
Jimmy Mac, I’m glad to see you’re gainfully employed as a copy writer for Pillow Pets :-)
“But what does it say about our capitalist system”
It says that lots of people sometimes want silly things (whether pillows or TV shows), and that at least a few people make a living trying to sell those silly things.
I can’t get too exercised about this. They’re just stuffed toys, and it’s nice to see something a kid can interact with that doesn’t require batteries or a volume control, doesn’t present impossible standards of beauty, isn’t gender specific (for the most part), will not require a need for stitches when one kid hits another one with it, can be washed after a kid pukes on it, will not cause choking, and is something that promotes hugging.
Plus, as Jim noted, if the kid doesn’t take to it, the cats will!
The only downside I can see is if they’re stuffed with those little styrofoam beads.
I like it, don’t get me wrong! My point is just that our system supports products whose desirability seems obvious in retrospect ( like this and luggage with wheels) and those which create desire almost ex nihilo ( iPhones) and it’s all mixed in together in the dance of supply and demand.
And pets of all sorts- somehow, calling this a pet made it better than an ordinary stuffed animal. why?
“And pets of all sorts- somehow, calling this a pet made it better than an ordinary stuffed animal. why?”
Because a “pet” has more emotional value than “stuffed thing.” Plus it alliterates and makes for snappy ad copy.
Not to mention, there are some of us who are attached to our pillows and even may travel with them. While a pillow is just a pillow, a pillow pet is a pillow and a pet:-)
Good point, Nancy :-)
Surely Pillow Pets are no sillier than such adult objects such as spring hats and the game of golf.
Lets face it. Pillow pets have been around for a long time. Needs vary, some are stuffed and some are not. There is no harm in either. Tantum quantum.
Cathleen,
I take issue with the idea that the iPhone creates desire ex nihilo. It’s success is that it meets desires that we are not yet aware of. That is the genius of it. It is like a pillow pet.
Though not as cuddly as a Pillow Pet, my Pet Rock has been a true companion over the years. Rocky was starting to get a little long in the basalt–understandable, given his 2.7 billion birthdays–but a micro pore peel by a local stonemason has done wonders for Rocky’s complexion and spirits.
Alan, the question that interests me is why THESE things are so popular. Presumably most kids have pillows. Most have stuffed animals– but together, it is magic. They are the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups of bedding. And someone thought it up!
Alan, I could see the point of a pillow pet before knowing it existed but I could not see the point of an iPhone before I got one of those blessed little things. It’s almost a type of gnosis- and I bet new iPhone owners annoy family members as much as Gnostics of all sorts do.
My kids agree with Nancy, they like their pillow pets because they are a pillow AND a pet. I think they are kind of cute. What is ridiculous, is my six year old’s Olivia the Pig dollhouse that also converts into a pirate ship. Why would you want a dollhouse/pirate ship? And why would a pig need either one? It cost $40.
Cathleen, I’ve never understood the popularity of the Boppy.
http://www.boppy.com/
It’s just a u-shaped pillow women use to support the baby during breastfeeding–something you can do with a regular pillow. But it has designer covers and the company now has a whole line of other supportive pillows and stuff. It seems to be a kind of status symbol type thing.
As a middle-aged expectant mother who did not foresee having more infants, I felt the amount of baby gear people pushed on us was almost obscene. It certainly cluttered up the house unnecessarily. I asked people to please buy Gerber Grow-Up policies or savings bonds. But most people want to buy the baby a lot of specialized equipment so they can brag about how much the baby loves it–and, by extension–loves THEM.
Perhaps something similar is going on with the Pillow Pets.
Olivia the Pig rules. I can’t imagine her NOT needing a dollhouse pirate ship. I also, however, cannot imagine spending 40 bucks on a small child’s toy.
My wife uses the Breast Friend, which she loves and which makes feeding much easier on her fakakta back.
Abe, then why don’t they call it the Fakata Back Friend? I’d buy that before I’d go out in public and say, “I need a Breast Friend. Do you carry those?”
God, I love Yiddish. One of my students was fluent, learned it from her Gramma. I know of no other language in which you can heap scorn and derision on something half so well. Now, if you could combine Italian gestures with Yiddish swear words, seems like you’d have an utterly devastating combination.
My wife, who grew up in Brooklyn in the 70s, asserts that there is no difference between Italians and Jews, so such a combination seems natural and maybe even imperative.
Abe, EVERY girl, of EVERY age, needs a dollhouse pirate ship. And a couple of pirates, to boot.
Yes. A pirate like this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ7SVMVrick
I was thinking of someone who’d make it a lot easier to negotiate those after Christmas return lines.
‘God, who desires to call all peoples to himself in Christ and to communicate to them the fullness of his revelation and love, “does not fail to make himself present in many ways, not only to individuals, but also to entire peoples through their spiritual riches, of which their religions are the main and essential expression even when they contain ‘gaps, insufficiencies and errors’” (John Paul II, Redemptoris Mission, quoting Paul VI, Evangelium nuntiandi). Therefore, the sacred books of other religions, which in actual fact direct and nourish the existence of their followers, receive from the mystery of Christ the elements of goodness and grace which they contain.’ (Dominus Iesus, 2000).
correction Evangelii nuntiandi
Ratzinger stresses that the religions derive all their goodness from the mystery of Christ, but it seems more persuasive to say that the divine Logos and Spirit are at work in them, in a way somehow supplementary to their presence in the incarnate Christ.
Cathleen, clearly you and I do not share the same pirate fantasies!
Fr. O’Leary, I’m not sure what your comment shave to do with Pillow Pets, but as a former Unitarian-Universalist, I agree that the Spirit imbues that which is good in all religions.
I’d pretty much go with any pirate who promised to whisk me away to the South Seas right now. South Bend just got it’s largest one- day total of snowfall — over 2 feet– and it’s three degrees outside.
“Jimmy Mac, I’m glad to see you’re gainfully employed as a copy writer for Pillow Pets :-)”
And I get 3.68% of all sales over $2,500, too!
Cathleen, we’ll try to keep our arctic air masses up here in Michigan where they belong (or Texas needs to keep that warm Gulf air further south). We didn’t get the big snow predicted, only about an inch of snow, close to zero outdoors, bright blue sky, no wind. I’m wearing a down vest, flannel jammies, and fuzzy bed sox as I type this.
But I love my cold, cold home, so my pirate, sadly, would have to trade in his puffy shirt for a flannel one and ditch the dashing earring. Metal transfers cold to the earlobes, which will hasten frostbite. (Geez, my pirate is starting to look like something out of “Fargo” …)
I am glad it is not too late to talk Christmas.
With that in mind, I hope you enjoy this old, sweet lyric:
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Christ is Born
John McCormack (sang c 1930’s)
“See amid the winter snow, born for us on Earth below, see the tender Lamb appears, promised from eternal years.
Hail the ever-blessed morn, hail redemption’s happy dawn. Sing to all Jerusalem, Christ is born in Bethlehem!
Sacred Infant born divine, what a tender love was Thine, thus to come from highest Bliss, down to such a world as this.
Hail the ever-blessed morn, hail redemption’s happy dawn. Sing to all Jerusalem, Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
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I love pillow pets and they’re very comfortable as well.
http://historywasneverlikethat.blogspot.com/