I cannot disclose the details of where I first came across the "Supa Dupa Babee"... let's just say that a friend of mine... possibly related to me... is in the military and volunteers his time at Christmas for a major charity (that may or may not rhyme with Boys for Cots). Anyway... someone donated a couple of these dolls and it was decided that they were not suitable to hand out to kids.... Hmmm... wonder why. Let's go through this step-by-step. Here's the beloved and world-renowned Supa Dupa Babee in the box:
OK... other than the cheesy graphics and "Chucky"-esque quality about this doll... nothing really too terribly odd. Now, let's check out the back of the box... and this is where things start getting a bit weird:
"He can blast the evil crackin' cocaine outta sight!"..... Huh? I'm all about teaching my kids about the ills of illegal pharmaceuticals.... but must they be so specific? And why cocaine? Why not meth or marijuana or Ox or Heroin? The specificity and obsession on coke is a bit concerning. Are 2 year olds really in jeopardy of taking a ride on the white horse? Do I need to start warning my own kids to stay away from the booger sugar? Apparently, the makers of this fine product think it's about time we parents start doing so... and that's why they've created the Supa Dupa Babee to empower us in this worthy endeavor. Now we move on to the side of the box:
"Kindegarten and school-aged children imitate his unique space-age look" screams the side of the box. Umm... I'm no expert here... but I'm pretty certain that if I sent my kid to school looking like a sateen version of Mork from Ork.... he's going to get his ass kicked... so... I'll pass... thanks. Though, I must admit.... the boy on the box seems very satisfied with his Supa Dupa Babee (and no doubt is well-prepared to steer clear of cocaine). Time to turn to the other side of the box... and here's what we get:
The master marketers that assembled this product now tell us that the Supa Dupa Babee will tell your children (again with even greater specificity... they are actually warning you about a specific formulation of cocaine this time): "YOU GOTTA FIGHT BACK! SAY NO TO DRUGS! SAY NO TO CRACK!" And... well... I'm happy to report, this is quite true.... press the Supa Dupa Babee and he quite literally says those very words... along with some other Jibber Jabber (I thought the term "Jibber Jabber"... popularized, of course, by Mr. T was somehow the best choice of words to convey 'nonsense' in this situation). OK... lastly.... I could barely contain my excitement as I extracted Supa Dupa Babee from his box.... and here he is:
The only thing I can think is that they originally were going to create a line of "Space Pimp" dolls and ordered a bunch from China... only to discover they weren't selling and would have limited appeal to kindegarteners. Then some genius came up with the concept to have the Space Pimp be an anti-drug superhero named, of course, Supa Dupa Babee.
Anyway... if anyone wants to order these dolls... you could probably get them pretty cheap... I think someone is running around town trying to pawn these off on the "less-fortunate" (no doubt with the sole altruistic purpose in mind of keeping kids off crack.... because CRACK is WHACK!).
7 comments:
Maybe they should have focused less on a don't do drug's doll and more on a "learn how to spell" doll.
But hey, seems like the great news in all this is your Christmas shopping is all done for next year.
I hope you send one to every single Boomer kid with love from Uncle Scott.
www.supadupababee.com
I couldn't help but look up Supa Dupa Babee on the internet. Apparently he has friends too!
Scott, I think you are right about the dolls. I think their bodies were inspired by some of the gold medal power lifters.
I'll see if I can do some research and find out more.
-Rood
I don't know why, but your possession of this thing reminds me of Toby ending up with the last doll on "The Office" Christmas episode.
Also, my friends are loving your blog...they told me so.
-Ricky
National studies have shown that you can't start too early in teaching kids to say "NO" to drugs. In 1985 the advent of the 'crack rock' destroyed teens, young mothers, and is responsible for the high incarceration rate of Black and Hispanic males. The statistics are horrendous of the number of "crack" babies born in the U.S. alone. Has the Faircloth Five done any research on this? Have you seen any of the devastation and death that "crack" causes to new born infants and the toll that caring for them takes on the U.S. Health Care System? In 1997, physicians reported an estimated 800,000 babies born addicted to drugs or alcohol, with 2-3% of all newborns cocaine exposed; 3-12% marijuana exposed. It's amazing that we can have a fictitious Spiderman climbing and jumping buildings to fight monsters, but we can't have a super duper hero
warning kids about real life monsters that can creep into their lives. Our curriculum successfully reaches kids, teaching them to be "super smart" and "drug free." Plant the seed early with children and you'll save you and your kids a lot of misery later. Recent U.S. studies have shown that a staggering 43% of middle school children have tried marijuana at least once. The slogan reiterated by the Supa Dupa Babee doll is not jibber jabber? Did you listen or have a five or six year old listen to his message for you. They will tell you that Supa Dupa Babee (not misspelled -- a trademarked name) says: "Tell your friends, we can win, and you can be Supa Dupa Babees too ....!" Remember, you have to reach kids on their level. All of those comments about meth, illegal pharmaceuticals, the come back of heroin -- when your kids are old enough that's your job as a parent to explain. But there are hundreds of educators who have used the SDB Drug Prevention Curriculum and the comments are basically the same. "The kids love Supa Dupa Babee." Did you know that there is also an Adventure Series Booklet, a Learning Guide, and Learning Modules, a video, and pro-friendship songs with the drug prevention curriculum? The catchy slogan in the high energy SDB Fight Back song that kids love to sing is: "Say No to drugs, say no to crack ... say no to drugs cause you gotta fight back! The drug cartel is well aware that people are learning how addictive crack cocaine is so they're building meth factories, "Ectasy," non-injectable heroin and all kinds of new ways to get your kids hooked with the idea that it's "cool" to do drugs. Statistically, they target inner city kids to sell drugs, and their market is the white, or suburban kids and teens with available cash on hand. As one eight-year old girl stated: "They want to destroy all of us." I'm sure the drug pushers would love to see your article irrationally knocking Supa Dupa Babee. The mission of Supa Dupa Babee is to save the lives of children all over the world.
Jeanne Starr Gater, Educator, Author
Creator: Supa Dupa Babee and Friends
National studies have shown that you can't start too early in teaching kids to say "NO" to drugs. In 1985 the advent of the 'crack rock' destroyed teens, young mothers, and is responsible for the high incarceration rate of Black and Hispanic males. The statistics are horrendous of the number of "crack" babies born in the U.S. alone. Has the Faircloth Five done any research on this? Have you seen any of the devastation and death that "crack" causes to new born infants and the toll that caring for them takes on the U.S. Health Care System? In 1997, physicians reported an estimated 800,000 babies born addicted to drugs or alcohol, with 2-3% of all newborns cocaine exposed; 3-12% marijuana exposed. It's amazing that we can have a fictitious Spiderman climbing and jumping buildings to fight monsters, but we can't have a super duper hero
warning kids about real life monsters that can creep into their lives. Our curriculum successfully reaches kids, teaching them to be "super smart" and "drug free." Plant the seed early with children and you'll save you and your kids a lot of misery later. Recent U.S. studies have shown that a staggering 43% of middle school children have tried marijuana at least once. The slogan reiterated by the Supa Dupa Babee doll is not jibber jabber? Did you listen or have a five or six year old listen to his message for you. They will tell you that Supa Dupa Babee (not misspelled -- a trademarked name) says: "Tell your friends, we can win, and you can be Supa Dupa Babees too ....!" Remember, you have to reach kids on their level. All of those comments about meth, illegal pharmaceuticals, the come back of heroin -- when your kids are old enough that's your job as a parent to explain. But there are hundreds of educators who have used the SDB Drug Prevention Curriculum and the comments are basically the same. "The kids love Supa Dupa Babee." Did you know that there is also an Adventure Series Booklet, a Learning Guide, and Learning Modules, a video, and pro-friendship songs with the drug prevention curriculum? The catchy slogan in the high energy SDB Fight Back song that kids love to sing is: "Say No to drugs, say no to crack ... say no to drugs cause you gotta fight back! The drug cartel is well aware that people are learning how addictive crack cocaine is so they're building meth factories, "Ectasy," non-injectable heroin and all kinds of new ways to get your kids hooked with the idea that it's "cool" to do drugs. Statistically, they target inner city kids to sell drugs, and their market is the white, or suburban kids and teens with available cash on hand. As one eight-year old girl stated: "They want to destroy all of us." I'm sure the drug pushers would love to see your article irrationally knocking Supa Dupa Babee. The mission of Supa Dupa Babee is to save the lives of children all over the world.
Jeanne Starr Gater, Educator, Author
Creator: Supa Dupa Babee and Friends
According to the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), approximately 8.6 million Americans aged 12 or older reported trying crack cocaine at least once during their lifetimes, representing 3.5% of the population aged 12 or older.
As anyone can plainly see the drug abuse problem in America is no joke. Warning children against Crack and other dangerous drugs must start as early as possible, if parents, educators and other community leaders are going to have a fighting chance to win the battle against drugs. We must embrace the tools at hand to win the war.
Castleberry Toy's Supa Dupa Babee is an excellent tools that I'm proud to be associated with for a number of years now. The doll is part of a total curriculm designed to bring awareness to young children to the dangers of illlict drugs and other dangers that youth face in our society today.
The program has been embraced by a number of school system around the country with proven results. Excellent responses from children, thier parents and educators.
I hope "Boys for Cots" decision to withhold the dolls from the children they are trying help, won't be the cause of one child going astray.
I know from personal experience. My mother adopted a crack addicted baby and for years, we dealt with nightmares,he would throw himself up against walls and scream out all time of night and was kick out school 22 times before the age of 8 years old.
On Feb 8, 1991 on her death bed my mother asked me to see after him and by that afternoon, she died.
The next couple of years were pure hell. I had to keep all my doors locked. School Pricipals were constantly calling me on the job and kicking him out of class. He set fire to two babysitter's home.
When I became ill with kidney failure the state came and took him away and he almost burn her house to the ground.
So if you don't believe the Crackin Cocaine monster exist, I can show you my scars
His many teachers can show you thier scars from trying to teach him.
The baysitters can show you thier scars from their burning homes
My Brother has scars and now he is leaving other with scars as one of the drug dealer in our city
I pray every night that he won't be kill or kill anyone else...However he is killing somebody each time he sell them crack
George Hicks
Line Producer
Supa Dupa Babee animated series
Castleberry Toys Inc
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