Military.com December 22, 2006
Online merchant Oriental Trading Company is no longer offering a piñata shaped like a U.S. military Humvee in the wake of a significant public outcry.
“We have received a lot of negative feedback about the item and we are no longer selling it as a result,” said Dave Steffensmeier, a supervisor at Oriental Trading Company. When asked what the company’s motivation was for offering the product in the first place, Steffensmeier said, “Our marketing team thought it might appeal to the military audience.”“Seriously, what were they thinking?” asked Xeni Jardin on the blog BoingBoing. “Is this supposed to be for kids' GI Joe parties, or anti-American rallies?”
The Oriental Trading Company’s original marketing impulse is curious, at best. The piñata is khaki-colored and has drawings of the helmet-covered heads of military personnel in each of the vehicle's windows. The natural uproar over the product stems from the fact that piñatas are designed to be struck with a stick until they burst, releasing the candy inside of them.
Reacting to the product’s removal, BoingBoing bloggers wrote: “{For now} you’ll just have to go find supplies for your jihad slumber party somewhere else.”
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