Transformer 'Spastic' cancelled in UK

[5FDP]

Is anyone surprised by this...

New for Christmas, the 'Transformer Spastic' - but makers scrap UK launch over fears it may cause offence (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1330994/Lost-translation-Transformers-toy-sold-UK-offensive-name.html)

Expect the same for Australia.

[gantz]

hahaha what were they thinking?

[Bartrim]

So what happens if people order this online like from BBTS.Would we receive Spastic or the Australian named product?

[1AZRAEL1]

So what happens if people order this online like from BBTS.Would we receive Spastic or the Australian named product?

Unlikely that it will be released here under the name Spastic, or at all. IMO, I think we will get missed altogether, so best bet would be to import anyway.

[Tropisetron]

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/entertainment/us-toymaker-hasbro-scraps-plan-to-launch-transformer-spastic-in-the-uk/story-e6fredpu-1225956558194?referrer=email&source=AN_email_nl&emcmp=AD&emchn=Newsletter&emlist=Member


Guess that confirms australia's fate with this toy...

[SofaMan]

Well, it's only a repaint anyway. No loss really.

[kaiden]

You'd think they could have spun it in a positive direction like this decepticon spastic is such a badass. he's overcome his disabilities by combining with drones to live life to his fullest potential - destroying autobots daily and doing it with a smile.

and that is the example to live by ;)

[VERT]

But PCC are Spastic! For once the name tells the truth. I want one now :D Must import :D :D

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I think this just goes to show how lacking Hasbros language skills really are. I mean come on, spastic has been taboo for ages now. Even if Tiger Woods does say his skills were 'spaz' that doen't quite justify it.

What the hell were hasbro thinking? I bet they wouldn't call a TF 'AIDS' or Cerebral Palsy....:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Be curious to see his bio though.

the name choice is just another reason as to why PCC suck so hard...

[SharkyMcShark]

I want one as a collectors piece.

But then I'd need MISB Erector to go with it. And maybe Discharge. And Windbreaker.

[kup]

I think this just goes to show how lacking Hasbros language skills really are. I mean come on, spastic has been taboo for ages now. Even if Tiger Woods does say his skills were 'spaz' that doen't quite justify it.

What the hell were hasbro thinking? I bet they wouldn't call a TF 'AIDS' or Cerebral Palsy....:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Be curious to see his bio though.

the name choice is just another reason as to why PCC suck so hard...

The Tiger Woods incident was not without well publicized controversy so it's really hard to justify why they went with that name as the smallest amount of research will inform you that the name could be offensive.

[FFN]

I think this just goes to show how lacking Hasbros language skills really are. I mean come on, spastic has been taboo for ages now. Even if Tiger Woods does say his skills were 'spaz' that doen't quite justify it. It's been taboo in the UK and derived countries (except Canada). It is not taboo in the United States, Canada and I imagine some other english-speaking countries. My research suggests that North Americans are genuinely unaware that there is any problem and are unaware that this would cause offense.

Regarding the Tiger Wood thing - even if that incident was huge and massive in America as it was in the UK (and so on), I don't think such well-publicised incidents would be so big that they would make a significant, lasting impact upon their vernacular and stay in their memory. Basically, they're probably not going to remember and change their culture accordingly (at least not this quickly) because of these incidents.


What the hell were hasbro thinking? I bet they wouldn't call a TF 'AIDS' or Cerebral Palsy....:rolleyes::rolleyes That's a silly example, because they clearly know what those illnesses/conditions are.



BTW, regarding somebody commenting on Hasbro not doing due research on Nexus Maximus - obviously, Hasbro's lawyers searched google with safe search on.

[kup]

I think it's silly that they didn't even bother to look up the name in Google US.

[griffin]

It's been taboo in the UK and derived countries (except Canada). It is not taboo in the United States, Canada and I imagine some other english-speaking countries. My research suggests that North Americans are genuinely unaware that there is any problem and are unaware that this would cause offense.

You still haven't responded to my request for a postive useage of the word in American verncular. Every example is still for the purpose of chastising or insulting someone, or themselves.

[GoktimusPrime]

Even with safe search on you'd still find the wikipedia page on Spastic as the first result which gives you information about the controversy surrounding the word in certain regions. Living in the age of search engines like Google, doing basic research only takes about a minute. (-_-)

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

That's a silly example, because they clearly know what those illnesses/conditions are.



Ignorance is a weak excuse for deciding to go with a name for a Transformer like this.

[Sky Shadow]

BTW, regarding somebody commenting on Hasbro not doing due research on Nexus Maximus - obviously, Hasbro's lawyers searched google with safe search on.

Actually, again it's obvious that they didn't bother to search Google at all. It doesn't matter how strict your filtering is when you search for 'Nexus Maximus', the first non-Transformer result (and there wouldn't have been any Transformers results at the time if they had searched) is always a sex toy.

[SkyWarp91]

Look, Hasbro just had one of those moments where they do something without thinking about it thoroughly - it was probably accidental as well as coincidental (considering how far it went through approval stages to be made). It's all happened to us before and it's just a normal human mistake. Hasbro are doing a responsible job in rectifying their mistake by not releasing the toy in the UK which might disappoint collectors but saves them the trouble of a endless wave of complaints from concerned consumers.

At least some humor can come out of this incident - I could imagine the Hasbro exec meeting sounding like this:

Designer: 'So here's our next PCC 5-Pack toy... it's a redeco of Leadfoot, I have no idea what to call him but it's the same ugly mold as before'

Exec #1: 'Spastic?'

Exec #2 **coincidently on the phone** : 'Yeah'

Exec #3 **distracted, thinking about the good times in their life** : 'Yeahh..'

Designer: 'really? are you sure?'

Exec #4 *being given his sandwich from his receptionist* : 'Oh yeahhhh'

Designer: Ok.

[Bartrim]

Actually, again it's obvious that they didn't bother to search Google at all. It doesn't matter how strict your filtering is when you search for 'Nexus Maximus', the first non-Transformer result (and there wouldn't have been any Transformers results at the time if they had searched) is always a sex toy.

Are you getting google search and favourites mixed up again Sky Shadow?:p

On the whole Tiger Woods thing. If I recall people in the U.S didn't care. It was because of people in the U.K that he was forced to apologise.

I'm not excusing Hasbro for this either I'm on the whole "Use google search for a minute and you find out if the word is taboo" side of the fence.

[Paul Agnew]

It's understood that concern would definitely rise from such a name, but we're dealing with an alien transforming robot toy. It shouldn't be that offensive unless the consumer wants to make it such a big fuss. We're humans, and technically the only ones who should feel insulted are robots themselves. Give it some thought.

Now, if they released a G.I. Joe figure called 'Spastic' I'd be worried.

[GoktimusPrime]

Your comment would be fine if Transformers were a fiction franchise aimed at adults, like say Sin City which has a character called the Yellow Bastard. But Transformers is first and foremost a children's toy franchise, and the Transformer's name is part of how HasTak markets its toy products at consumers. Thus keep in mind that:

+ Parents buy toys for children.

+ Disabled kids play with toys too. I've also met some TF collectors who have disabilities where they probably wouldn't take too kindly to seeing the word "Spastic" on a toy.

+ Again, this is a children's toy. I mean, you could take the K-9 or Wolfang mould and repaint it into a female Transformer character and call her "Bitch" and it would technically not be in an offensive context, or you could have a Transformer character who's excellent with social rapport and call it "Intercourse" -- but it just wouldn't be worth doing it considering the controversy and upset that it would cause. All you need to do is put in a bit of effort to find an alternative name. I just punched "Spastic" into thesaurus.com and one synonym it gave me was "Queer." Sure, you COULD call a Transformer Queer and justify it with an eccentric personality -- but you'd most likely upset a lot of people in the process.

Remember that young children in the more immature stages of cognitive development tend to see things as black and white. Thus they would have been taught that words like bitch, queer, spastic etc. as being taboo. It's not until around the age of 15 that the brain achieves sufficient cognitive maturation where the average individual and discern between the appropriate uses of these words according to context -- and by that age they're not going to be offended by characters with taboo words in their names (like the Yellow Bastard - I don't know much about Sin City, but perhaps he was born out of wedlock :p).

[Sky Shadow]

It looks like Movie Jolt, Cybertron Smokescreen and Shattered Glass Jazz and Richochet only just managed to avoid being the next 'Spastic': http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2010/12/bugatti-veyron-available-in-rape-yellow.html ;)

[Hursticon]

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2010/12/bugatti-veyron-available-in-rape-yellow.html ;)

WTF!?! :eek::p:D

[5FDP]

It looks like Movie Jolt, Cybertron Smokescreen and Shattered Glass Jazz and Richochet only just managed to avoid being the next 'Spastic': http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2010/12/bugatti-veyron-available-in-rape-yellow.html ;)

Not touching that one at all.

[1AZRAEL1]

It looks like Movie Jolt, Cybertron Smokescreen and Shattered Glass Jazz and Richochet only just managed to avoid being the next 'Spastic': http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2010/12/bugatti-veyron-available-in-rape-yellow.html ;)

Didn't know it had a colour, or deserve one.

Whoever came up with that name is a complete idiot.

[SharkyMcShark]

Well it made me laugh

[1AZRAEL1]

Well it made me laugh

So did I, I laughed at how dumb it was :p

[dirge]

Wouldn't have taken much intelligence to simply call it "rapeseed". Sigh.

[GoktimusPrime]

Last Sunday I was having lunch with some non-TF friends of mine who'd read the news about "Spastic" and were just in absolute disbelief and had a pretty good laugh about it. Then I told them about Nexus Maximus and the laughter increased. :D

[Gutsman Heavy]

Ahh, Nexus Maximus. The life of any party ;)