It was a rainy afternoon, I was a little drowsy, semi-watching one of my favorite movies, Up. As it happened to be on the Disney XD channel, every commercial break was a barrage of child-centric products (games, toys, etc.) aimed at making any kid watching, salivate at the very thought of ownership.

And then I saw it, through drooping eyelids, "was that a flying piece of poop?", I said out loud. The image snapped me to attention. Yes, indeed it was. The game, Mattel's Flushing Frenzy,  involves rolling dice and plunging a toilet until a smiling piece of human guano flies through the air. It is supposedly on a "hot list" of "crappy" toys for the Christmas holidays.

As indicated, it is not alone. Alex Brands toys, Plunge It!  also involves plungers and a toy deuce resembling the now familiar "poop emoji". Spin Master Flush Force involves a mini toilet with toys sealed in the bowl, you fill the toilet tank, flush it and then retrieve the gross results. There are multiple figures to collect and different size toilet bowls which utter farting, burping or the more mundane flushing sounds.

Lastly, Hasbro's Don't Step In It! game involves molding doggy doo out of modeling clay, laying it on the game mat, spinning a dial and walking blindfolded and barefoot down said mat while hoping for the best. It is like a dog owner's backyard nightmare, but you do it to yourself, on purpose!

I could go on, but I just can't. I don't know what these kinds of games say about society. Is this good or bad that something normally reserved for the inner sanctum of a bathroom has been turned into a (pardon the expression) "touchy-feely" exercise in excrement entertainment?

I surely don't have the answer, I'm just warning parents what your kids might be begging for soon.


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