Save our plastic toys: smug parents trigger Waitrose magazine ban
Waitrose will no longer sell magazines with disposable plastic toys stuck to the front. This is a huge deal for the publishing industry because those plastic toys are useful when it comes to attracting little hands and distracting minds from the mag’s other content, which is routinely rubbish. Waitrose says the toys cannot be recycled and are only useful for a very limited time. Everyone else says,”£4.99 for that!”
The move follows the bans on plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds. Does anyone think the paper straws do a better job than the plastic ones? Pollution is a problem, but are plastic hairclips on magazines a burning issue?
Of course, this is Waitrose, and the middle-class larder wants to replace “pointless plastic” with “sustainable alternatives”. The “inspiration” behind the Waitrose narrative is a 10-year-old who launched a campaign to persuade publishers to stop giving away the disposable toys in magazines. How Waitrose will react to campaigns by children to buy local, support small retailers and shun chains is moot.
“I’m really pleased so many people have agreed with me and supported my petition – I want to thank everyone who has signed and shared my campaign to ban plastics from comics and magazines,” the child told the BBC. “Thank you to Waitrose for agreeing with us and no longer selling the unwanted plastic tat. I hope all retailers can do the same and then the publishers will realise this is not acceptable anymore. We really like the magazines – we just don’t want or need the plastic packaging or the cheap plastic toys.”
And then the best bit: the ban will not include educational or reusable craft items which are designed to be used multiple times, such as colouring pens and pencils, and collectable models.
So plastic toys have not been banned. The knowing simply want “tat” replaced with worthy stuff that turns home into an extension of school. Now sit back and wait until the knowing find out what they make magazine paper from. Tim-ber!
Posted: 23rd, March 2021 | In: Key Posts, News, The Consumer Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
