I wrote a letter from the depths of my heart a while ago. It was an open letter to Mattel and American Girl. Well, I posted a link to that blog on their Facebook page and I believe it got deleted. Because... donuts, I guess. Another person had written a complaint about how only certain people get coupons for American Girl's stuff (which is a very anti-consumer move, if I do say so myself). And this is what American Girl had to say:
Hi [insert name of poster here], we had to delete one of the previous posts as there was were two inappropriate comments on the thread. Please be assured, we will never delete anything unless it goes against our Community Guidelines.
Okay. So, it can be understood. Inappropriate comments on a child's toy page is nothing to scoff at.
But... why can't you just... I know, going out on a limb here, delete the comments themselves instead of deleting the whole post? There were only two. It's not like a YouTube comments section where everyone and their grandmothers are trying to tell someone to drink bleach or something stupid.
I know I'm not the most grammatically correct being myself. One part of the sentence just throws me off. 'Was were'? It's either was or were, not both! I didn't even notice it at first. It was like whoever was typing the comment went 'hmm well, the post is deleted, so I'll put was... no wait, but we didn't delete the actual comments! So I will put were.' and just forgot to delete the was part.
What are these Community Guidelines? Well, here they are, straight from the Facebook page itself.
Community Guidelines:
Please keep the conversation respectful and friendly so that everyone can feel comfortable contributing to this community. Also, remember that any user content posted on this page does not necessarily represent the opinions of American Girl, and American Girl does not endorse any opinions on this page not specifically posted by it. Additionally, American Girl is not responsible for the accuracy of any claims, information, or advice posted by users of the page.
This page is designed with American Girl fans in mind, and with the hope that the ideas and information posted here will inspire new ways for everyone to celebrate girls and all they can be. As you explore the page, please remember that American Girl does not assume any obligation to monitor messages, comments, posts, images, photos, or other content posted by users of the page. However, American Girl does reserve the right to monitor and remove any content that violates Facebook’s terms of use (http://www.facebook.com/terms.php), as well as any other content that:
• includes, demonstrates, or encourages the misuse of a product or creates a hazardous situation;
• is off-topic, irrelevant, or otherwise objectionable;
• includes the submission of an idea or suggestions of new products;
• sells a product or service of any type;
• links to any third-party website;
• has been posted by anyone under the age of 13;
• is obscene, lewd, lascivious, or filthy;
• includes spam content;
• contains any viruses, Easter eggs, worms, bots, Trojan horses, or potentially damaging computer programs, code, malware, or files;
• uses any third-party trademarks or service marks or the name of any third party’s products, offerings, services, brands, or trademarks;
• is abusive, harassing, threatening, violent, or defamatory;
• is false, deceptive, misleading, or deceitful;
• infringes on another party’s copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights, rights of publicity or privacy, or other rights;
• violates any law, statute, ordinance, or regulation or encourages conduct that constitutes a criminal offense or may result in civil liability;
• is unintelligible;
• cannot be properly translated or interpreted; or
• includes personally identifiable information (such as telephone numbers, last names, or physical or email addresses) of anyone who has not given you permission.
Additionally, if a photo or video you post includes someone other than you, make sure you have the person’s permission. If the image includes a child for whom you are not the parent or legal guardian, make sure you have permission from the child’s parent or legal guardian. Finally, to protect the privacy of American Girl staff, please do not post last names when referring to any American Girl employee or representative. If a last name is posted, American Girl reserves the right to remove the entire post because user posts cannot be edited.
Also, please do not post ideas or materials for new products or services or even improvements to products or services on this page because American Girl is not seeking submissions of this sort. If you still choose to do so, American Girl will treat the ideas or materials as non-confidential and non-proprietary.American Girl also reserves the right to prevent access to any user who posts content in violation of these Community Guidelines.
Now I know why my post got deleted. I cannot hold any grudges against American Girl for that, since Blogger is a 3rd party website and in my passion I didn't bother to read the community rules. I didn't even know that there were community guidelines. I've never really heard of a page having community guidelines. Groups, yes. Pages? No, not really.
And aren't the guidelines themselves a little bit vague? If I put my doll's underwear on its head, that's misusing a product. That could be hazardous because maybe someone else's daughter will want to wear their underpants on their head as well.
Barbie (you know, Mattel's OTHER doll brand), doesn't have community guidelines on their Facebook Page. Just a few paragraphs about how Mattel gets flooded with your ideas and may actually end up stealing them...
.. Mattel will not accept, review or consider any ideas or suggestions relating to toys, games, characters, other products, services, marketing plans, or any other matters posted on this page.
Given the enormous number of ideas, concepts, and materials that Mattel develops in-house and that are suggested to Mattel by (and acquired by Mattel from) its large pool of third-party professional designers and inventors, it is likely that an idea or suggestion posted by you on this page could embody ideas, concepts, and/or materials that are identical or substantially similar to those that independently developed by or for Mattel in the past or future. Therefore, in light of Mattel's practice of not accepting unsolicited product or idea submissions, any similarity between your idea or suggestion and any Mattel product or service is coincidental, and Mattel will not assume any obligation to compensate you for any such similarity.
Furthermore, this Facebook page of Mattel’s is a public forum – one with no expectation of privacy or confidentiality by its users. So if you post any product idea or suggestion on this page, then it will be treated by Mattel and its users as public, non-confidential, and non-proprietary. And, in light of Mattel’s practice of not accepting unsolicited product or idea submissions, Mattel will not assume any obligation whatsoever (express or implied) to review or consider your idea or suggestion. Stated another way: by posting your idea or suggestion on this page, you waive and agree to waive any claims that Mattel misappropriated your idea or has incorporated any portion of your idea or suggestion in any future Mattel products or services.
Even Monster High, another Mattel property, has a few community rules, but not as many as American Girl.
Community Rules:And then the same "we can use your ideas" comment on the Barbie page is displayed once again.
• Treat others how you want to be treated. Never post comments that would make you upset if someone said that to you. Be respectful and kind in what you post!
• Offensive or inappropriate content will be removed. Inappropriate material (anything considered above PG-13) will be removed from the Monster High Facebook page.
• All Student Bodies are welcome here. This page is intended for Monster High fans from all walks of life so celebrate what makes them unique, while always accepting that others may have a different point of view.
I believe that the reason there is so many rules for the American Girl page is that because of 'panty gate' (the revelation that someday all American Girl dolls will have sewn-on permanent panties) as well as any feelings about the possible decline in quality caused many (very rightly so) angry comments.
One major thing that is bothering me about American Girl is that they seem to be pandering to a more wide-spread demographic. In no particular order: Toys-R-Us gets the once coveted mail-order only dolls. Then Kohls. And most recently (I believe, not 100% certain) Target. And the box has changed from the nostalgic box with just a circle for the face to show to the full display boxes that the likes of My Life As (Wal-Mart's brand) and Our Generation (Target's brand) dolls. I would not be shocked if American Girl announced that they were going to start selling their wares at Wal-Mart or something.
But how are American Girl dolls going to do against the most cheaper (with no panties sewn onto them, I may add!) store brands? My Life As has two male dolls (one Caucasian, one African-American) and unlike Logan (who has already been placed on backorder and NOT Tenney) they have clothing sets for them and no chance of having boxers sewn on. Our Generation and Journey Girls (Toys-R-Us) are both well-loved by American Girl fans.
I doubt that American Girl or Mattel is going to listen to the outraged fans.
This permanent panties upsets me. I have fallen in love with Nanea's face mold, and I'd love to buy her, but... no. Not with the permanent panties. Not with the decline in quality of the vinyl, body, and thinly made hair.
