I’ve been to Vatican twice and one of my favorite parts of going is to stop at the massive gift shop. I could spend hours musing over all the Catholic trinkets that range from the sacred to the profane, from the cheap to the steep. One of my favorite items is a snow globe with a gaudy-looking Pope John Paul II waving out to the world beyond the domed glass. The first time I went I left the gift shop thinking how disgusting it was that they’d used The Pope and Jesus as a marketing tool to sell everything from T-shirts to backscratchers. Well, fast-forward ten years and picture me walking into a Deseret Book after a decade of reprieve and experiencing those same thoughts all over again. But they aren’t the only ones due credit, it seems for many LDS companies it’s now perfectly acceptable to put the image of Joseph Smith, Christ, a temple, scriptures or any other Mormon icon on some bauble and emotionally sell it at a financial premium. Here are some of the current products available that I find to be egregious.
Joseph Receives The Golden Plates Action Figure $5.95
A sacred moment now “Made In China” from vinyl
$20.99 I know it's a little hard to read but it says, “CTR, Bitches”
Isn’t this the perfect thing to send Tiffany Sue to her first day of 4th grade in?
$14.95 It used to be you’d get out of the font and mom would be waiting with a raggedy towel from home, not anymore, now everything surrounding any LDS event is a sellable product…even a towel.
Well, I’m thinking of cashing in on the LDS product craze myself by making and selling Bobblehead Joseph’s, just think of the marketing—“setting him on your dashboard brings a touch of the spirit to your car.” You laugh at my sarcasm, but give it a few months and someone else will have made one and be living large on the East Bench.
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My sister is an amazing artist here in utah, www.emilychaneyart.com, and at a recent art festival she sold NOTHING. Her art was ORIGINAL oil on canvas. She marked her prices down from $500 to $300. The tent next to her had a picture of Joseph Smith with his arm leaning on the wall with him looking pensive into the distance. This was a print for $200 dollars and the man sold at least four!!!
I told her she needs to paint Joseph Smith hugging Gordon B. Hinckley in the Celestial Kingdom. Maybe throw in a tear or two. That will sell for big bucks.
Maybe ure sis's stuff stinks so it didn't sell... or maybe it's because UT's are cheap. I'd pay good $ for Joseph Smith welcoming Hinckley into heaven. I can look at it while listening to my CD of Hinckley's fav. music I got on KSL.com for mom's day.
anyway...
I agree, I'm sure that shirt wasn't in an LDS store, but it is kind of crazy the stuff they are selling.
A note on figurines though, we do our FHEs with Little People so our 4 y/o can understand it better. They all act a part and he can see it happening. We've thought that a Jesus figure or Moroni figure or whatever one would help with the story. So there is a good use for them.
On a side note, can you turn off the word verification for leaving comments?
My favorite are the action figures. At our house Captain Moroni can lift his Title of Liberty while he stands on the chest of a fallen storm trooper. Or better yet, one of the strippling warriors can be Cinderella's prince in our little girl's dream wedding. "Look, daddy, they're GETTING MARRIED!"
I DID choose the right, bitches! (then I changed my mind.)
Joanna, that is so cute! Our first girl is 1 so we aren't quite to that point yet.
Ooohhh!!! Little People! I found Little People missionaries at Latter-Day Harvest in Nauvoo! They had Sisters and Elders, and they weren't all white-bread missionaries either, which I totally appreciated!!!!!
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