Oozinator

The Oozinator is a toy water gun manufactured by Hasbro, Inc. It is a member of the Super Soaker family, which currently includes 10 other squirt-gun toys.

Specifications, Operations

Hasbro copyrighted the term Oozinator in 2005 and the toy was put on sale in 2006^[1] . The company recommends the Super Soaker Oozinator for use by ages 6 & Up, suggests at retail for US$24.99, and is item # 52695. Product specifications include an "air-powered blaster," 27-ounce water capacity and 20-shot "bio-ooze" capacity. The toy uses an "air-powered blaster" that can propel water up to 35 feet, and "bio-ooze" up to 20 feet. The toy comes with a 10-ounce supply of "bio-ooze."

In Spray Mode 1, the toy is actuated and propels water from a nozzle located superiorly on the anterior aspect by squeezing a trigger, located toward the rear. A pressure reservoir which is charged by a lateral pumping action of a forward-pointing, superiorly located rod enables actuation.

In Spray Mode 2, the toy spurts "ooze" with each pumping action of a separate, lateral manual handle, located at the inferior aspect of the anterior surface, immediately below the water charging handle. In "ooze" mode, the toy does not store pressure.

Controversy

The Oozinator has garnered scrutiny because of its television marketing campaign.

Its main television ad shows a boy with the toy shooting other, unarmed, children with the ooze function. In response to the ad, Steve Hall from AdRANTS said "The people who created this ad are either living in a land far removed from current day culture, are completely clueless or, conversely, have a seriously twisted sense of humor. This ad for the Hasbro Super Soaker Oozinator features a gun that when pumped a few times shoots a white globular substance all over the faces and bodies of those in the ad. Sound familiar? We thought so. While we're sure it's fun to pump something until it shoots a bunch of gooey stuff, we can't help but imagine how this thing got created, reviewed and approved without a lot of snickering."^[2]

The Internet advertisements also garnered criticism. The Hasbro website promotes and describes the toy claiming: Sneak up on your opponents with a surprise bio-ooze attack! Just when they think you’re coming at ‘em with water, blast ‘em with a shot of icky bio-ooze! Shoot out globs of gooey bio-ooze and then drench ‘em with water! It’s a double blast attack that’ll keep your opponents on their toes and running during every water fight. With the OOZINATOR blaster you don’t just get soaked, you get drenched!^[3]

Other media

• The AV Club (a Los Angeles based production company) made a spoof video of a board meeting discussing the Oozinator, where one person sees how the toy could be suggestive, but is ostracized by the others for it.^[4]

• The commercial for the Oozinator was featured on the December 18, 2006 episode of The Daily Show. In the segment "This Week in God," the Oozinator was named as "the Number One "Devil's Plaything" for Christmas," and correspondent Samantha Bee noted it offered "Junior's first moneyshot."^[5]

References

1. ^ iSoaker.com
2. ^ AdRANT article
3. ^ Hasbro product page
4. ^ AV Club video
5. ^ "This Week in God - Christmas Christacular". The Daily Show. 2006-12-18.

External links

• Hasbro's Official Product Page
• Original Oozinator TV commercial
• Cartoon at Words & Pictures
• Oozinator Video Review
• "Splooginator" Parody of hypothetical Hasbro marketing meeting
• Oozinator Profile at The Consumerist