The end of plastic free gifts?

[jrdd]

Saw this today, about plastic free gifts on children’s magazines and comics:
https://inews.co.uk/news/consumer/waitrose-childrens-magazines-ban-free-disposable-plastic-toys-924959

It seems they are not always appreciated by their target audience.  Clearly the environmental impact is a big driver here, but the article mentions a campaign by reader Skye Neville who also states a preference for reading the magazine rather than having the gifts.  The campaign has contributed to Waitrose taking the decision to no longer stock titles that have plastic gifts.

Will be interesting to see how publishers and other retailers respond to this, whether it marks the start of a wider change.

[Colin YNWA]

Clear them off the shelves and make space for more copies of The Phoenix so more folks are exposed to this fantastic comic... I mean in an ideal world that is...

[IndigoPrime]

Waitrose taking the decision to no longer stock titles that have plastic gifts.

Only that’s not what’s happening. The company has stated it will cease stocking what it refers to as unnecessary plastic that is primarily single use. It will continue to stock magazines that covermount reusable craft items or collectable models intended to be used many times. So Lego obviously gets a pass, but I’ll bet publishers will lobby Waitrose that their tat is also intended to be used multiple times (and, to be fair, a lot of it is).

Will be interesting to see how publishers and other retailers respond to this, whether it marks the start of a wider change.

Doubtful. As a parent of a youngling, the bigger problem appears to be parents even knowing alternatives exist. In Mini-IP’s class of 30, she’s the sole kid who gets two weekly comics. One boy gets The Beano. She doesn’t know a single other friend who gets a regular comic—and yet parents gripe about crap on the shelves.

[IndigoPrime]

Clear them off the shelves and make space for more copies of The Phoenix so more folks are exposed to this fantastic comic... I mean in an ideal world that is...

I’ve only ever seen that comic once in the wild. We had to drive to Reading, which, if people aren’t aware, is a pretty big town. (Pop: north of 200k.) Nowhere locally stocks it.

[CalHab]

I've only ever seen The Phoenix at larger WH Smiths (and at airports) and Gosh! Comics.

It's an excellent comic and very popular with my daughter. It's a shame it doesn't seem to be widely known or distributed.

My daughter has commented on the plastic bagged with comics. Kids are concerned with environmental matters at a young age these days. It was quite clever to tag the Cor! Buster special with "no plastic", I think.

[IndigoPrime]

My kid won’t touch plastic tat mags now, after learning about it at school. It’s a BIG shift from a couple of years back, when as a 4yo she wanted every single thing on the shelves. She makes an exception for Lego, because it’s reusable.

As for The Phoenix, I find it frustrating more parents won’t give it a chance. A quid for four issues. What have you got to lose? (And, yes, I realise not everyone can afford to spend anything on comics, but many families can. Where I live is, broadly, fairly well off, and yet, still, hardly any kids get comics.)

[CalHab]

There's still an element of snobbery associated with comics among middle class parents unfortunately. Despite studies showing their value in building literacy and getting kids to love reading, I think they're still not seen as "proper reading" by some.

Teachers and librarians seem to be more enlightened on this subject than parents.

[broodblik]

There's still an element of snobbery associated with comics among middle class parents unfortunately. Despite studies showing their value in building literacy and getting kids to love reading, I think they're still not seen as "proper reading" by some.

That is one the biggest problem breaking down those barriers to give these parents the understanding is that comics is just a different form of literature. I have read comics that is deeper and more mature than novels.

[IndigoPrime]

I dunno. With parents of my kid’s friends, it’s more awareness. Older parents in their 40s grew up at the tail end of the comics wave and are seemingly keener about encouraging kids to read comics. 20/30-somethings missed all that. As for proper reading, the shitshow that are children’s picture books — when it comes to storylines, sexism and a basic lack of editing competence — never ceases to amaze me. The Phoenix and The Beano aren’t perfect (and the latter is too often predictable and relies too heavily on word puns), but they are frequently leagues ahead of ‘proper’ books for children.

[Funt Solo]

I tried a yearly sub to the Phoenix - my daughter loved it. I had significant problems with the sub (pre-Covid, mind) - which was international - and every time I tried to resolve it, they blamed me. At one point, they removed the zip code, and there are 33 towns in the US with the same name as the one I live in. When I pointed out their error, guess what? They blamed me. Issues only got resolved once I contacted the editor directly - who promised to send a GN in comp. They never did.

Despite a year of this sort of palaver, I tried to re-sub (after they sent me a physical letter to tell me it had lapsed, a month after the last issue turned up, even though they have my email) and their web site wouldn't actually let me.

Great comic. Shit distribution. We had to stop getting it because it was actually impossible to give them any money. Which is fucking weird, when you think about it.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Is nobody going to mention the Space Spinner? 

[IndigoPrime]

Sorry to hear your experience with The Phoenix was so negative. They’ve been really good in the UK, to the point they adjusted their distribution during COVID to try and get the comic out to kids in time. DCT have also been great with The Beano. When I was going to subscribe, I wrote to them because the gift wasn’t something I was comfortable with—it was a toy gun. Within minutes, I had an email offering a range of alternatives. And this Christmas, I mentioned on Twitter that it was odd the subs copies didn’t get the free gifts, although I didn’t mind. Quick as a flash—even though I’d not @ mentioned The Beano—I got a DM asking me if I’d like one sent through.

[Funt Solo]

Probably they just struggle with International orders. Glad to hear you got such great service. I'm definitely a supporter of *proper* comics.