Wal-Mart stocks Bratz dolls next to Jesus

Brian White — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:05:00 EST

Filed under: Products and Services, Wal-Mart (WMT), Marketing and Advertising

In case you haven't visited a toy aisle at a local Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) Supercenter this holiday season, don't be alarmed if you hear some religious-speak from some of the dolls and figurines.

Amid the Bratz dolls and Fisher farm animals, you'll find a decent assortment of faith-based toys, some of which proclaim to be "Jesus, the son of God," according to The Chicago Tribune.

Given its Southern roots in Arkansas and its conservative nature, it's in Wal-Mart's blood to be a purveyor of religious toys this time of year. But this is a first -- stocking faith-based toys at Christmastime (or holiday time, if you prefer that).

Gallery: 'Tis the season to boycott: Would Christmas by any other name be so controversial?

As a parent, are you for or against these kinds of religious-themed toys? Are they any different than scantily clad Barbies that present an unrealistic view of physical beauty? How about demon-headed boy's toys that look like something from the movie Hellraiser? Having a variety of toys that suits all kids, ethnicities and religious beliefs seems appropriate for a retailer that wants to be everything to everyone, all the time. Agree or disagree?

Wal-Mart stocks Bratz dolls next to Jesus originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The ascension of GodTube: What took this long?

Barry Summerlin — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 11:10:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Google (GOOG), Next Big Thing, Small Business, Technology

Web watcher comScore Inc. has reported that last month, the new site GodTube.com saw traffic climb 973% -- growth unprecedented in the web's history. GodTube welcomed 1.7 million unique visitors between its official August 8 launch and month's end, debuting in comScore's list of top 1,000 internet properties.

Owned and operated by Big Jump Media, Inc., GodTube is exactly what you might guess -- a Christian alternative to Google (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s YouTube. Similar to its secular counterpart, GodTube visitors can upload, view and comment on sermons, music videos and performances, testimonials, skits and sketches, rants, raves and what have you. In six weeks, it has accumulated more than 20,000 user-submitted clips and streamed more than 800,000 hours of video.

It's fascinating that here we are nearly two decades into the internet, and only now does a dominant faith-oriented web destination start to take shape. Sure, denominations and sects have their own predominant web resources -- some even run dynamic, regularly updated web portals. But your web search for religion will mostly yield a lot of domain squatting (www.religion.com, www.god.org) and last century's web design (www.jesuschrist.com, www.yhwh.com).

Continue reading The ascension of GodTube: What took this long?

The ascension of GodTube: What took this long? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Sep 2007 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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