All American Hero!

Large wars were a normal happening in my home. Men would fight the forces of iniquity using their plastic weapons and represent tanks. My G.I. Joes and I would combat the evil C.O.B.R.A. for hours making me immobilise everyday hassles like my chores and homework. I neer thought well-nigh why I played with my action figures, but I was hooked by G.I. Joes concept of keep an eye on and pride. My obsessive play with these toys revea guide more just about myself as a child.As a child G.I. Joe was my life. School provided me a recover to image saturnine my G.I. Joe tiffin quoin before I would run in my G.I. Joe sneakers at recess. After school my shell grade for the day would be stick on on the refrigerator with my special G.I. Joe magnet, which I sent away for in the mail. Weekends provided me with chores that, upon their completion, allowed me to pay a bare-ass G.I. Joe figure. There was no time when G.I. Joe was not in many way involved in my life.I clam up remember s eeing my jump G.I Joe on the shelf in the store. These figurines were oft sold in packaging that had jovials on the back recounting hotshotic stories of G.I. Joe victory. The jump time I saw a G.I Joe, I went over to the shelf and pulled it off the peg, flipped the package over and read the toon on the back. Everytime I read the comic for a different character, it make me require that toy more and more.However, I entrust my fondest moment with G.I Joe was when I saw my freshman G.I. Joe cartoon on television. Every chance contained dozens of different characters and vehicles all of which could be bought in toy form. G.I. Joes lived up to their translation as the real American hero by struggle evil terrorists in defense of their country. Each episode veritable(a) ended with a moral about duty or virtue. Eventually, my fantasy became a when the G.I. Joe cartoon television series was make into a movie. The movie introduced new characters, new vehicles, and new story lines for me to enjoy.Unfortunately, as I got older, I began to realize that the whole G.I Joe dodging was just a way for the society producing them to make money. The merchandising power of G.I Joe was besides subsidized during the television series by advertisements that aired during the shows commercial breaks. Images of plastic figures fighting on exuberant battlefields were designed to trip up childrens imagination. I was often shown in the ads creating elaborate scenarios in which G.I. Joe would combat the evil C.O.B.R.A. This melding of the show and commercials bombarded me with the visuals of in demand(p) toys.The toys were the basis for an exponential merchandise strategy that forced me or my parents to bribe more and more products for me. The thought fag end this strategy was very simple in that if I bought one G.I. Joe that I would virtually likely buy another. Not unaccompanied that, but if I already had a few G.I Joes then I would plausibly buy a vehicle for them. Eventually, it led to me buying other paraphernalia such(prenominal) as clothing and even lunch boxes.Furthermore, I even remember breathing out to different stores and seeing different marketing campaigns set up. For example, I remember Sears except selling the command center for the unskilled guys Toys R Us selling a special figurine that came with an audio cassette that is at once a valuable collectors item. These special toy sets appealed to me who desired to have all of the idealistic G.I. Joe items.What does this say about America? It reveals that capitalist economy was present in nearly everything made in America. No matter how much I loved my G.I. Joe, I was free the puppet of corporate executives who moreover desired to make money. Though honor was accentuate on the show to sell toys, it lone(prenominal) contrasted the dishonorable marketing scheme of the companies. Personally, my childishness love for G.I. Joe was therefore created by a company solely to profit f rom. And until now I dont care. After realizing that I was merely being used I still love my G.I. Joes because they were a part of me careless(predicate) of how much money I spent.