EASTER OUTRAGE:Some stores are selling Easter baskets filled with toy guns and soldiers, upsetting some Northland residents.
BY JOHN MYERS NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
For many Christians, the fact that Easter has been hijacked by rabbits delivering candy is bad enough.
But this year, it's not just fluffy bunnies and chocolate eggs. At least three major U.S. retailers are selling Easter baskets filled with toy machine guns, military action figures, plastic fighter jets and tanks.
Many of the soldier figures are dressed in desert camouflage.
As Christians prepare for Easter and with America on the brink of invading Iraq, the marketing merger of religious observance and war fever has some shaking their heads.
"It's commercialism run amuck. Some people think they can make an extra buck playing on the patriotism of some Americans," said the Rev. Dale Nau, communications director for the Catholic Diocese of Duluth. "I've never been much for Easter baskets and bunnies, but this is even beyond that. It's unfortunate at such an anxious time for our country."
Jan Provost, of Superior, founder of the local chapter of Grandmothers For Peace, has been calling stores and corporate offices and e-mailing friends to get the war toy baskets off store shelves.
"I was simply appalled, coming from a Christian perspective. Christ is the Prince of Peace, and here these baskets are full of war toys," Provost said.
The sale of war toys in Easter baskets appears to follow a national retail trend. Many retailers sell big baskets, some of them 4 feet tall, filled with soccer balls, dolls, musical instruments and other toys, with a few bags of candy tossed in.
Easter sales now mean much more than candy eggs and jelly beans -- the season rivals Halloween for candy sales and is second only to Christmas for overall retail sales, industry analysts say. Stuffed animals have taken a back seat to plastic toys of all kinds marketed especially to sell for the spring holiday.
With six weeks of shopping left until Easter, demand for the baskets with guns hasn't been high in Duluth or Superior. The baskets sell for $9.99 and $12.99. The toys are made in China.
Several Northland residents like Provost are involved in a national e-mail campaign to get the military toys off store shelves.
The effort has helped push Walgreens to rethink selling the baskets.
"We reconsidered the appropriateness of having them in Easter baskets and considered the impending war and thought it would not be appropriate to sell baskets with soldiers or military men," Carol Hively, a spokeswoman for the 3,998-store chain, told USA TODAY.
But that directive still hasn't hit some Northland stores. Plenty of the war Easter baskets were on the shelves of the Plaza Walgreens in Duluth on Friday.
And the controversy isn't moving Kmart or Wal-Mart to action. Roger Kari, assistant manager of the Superior Kmart, said he hadn't received any phone calls or e-mails against the baskets that were only recently put on store shelves.
Susan Dennis, spokeswoman for Kmart's corporate headquarters, said the company has no intention of pulling the military Easter baskets off store shelves.
"We really haven't received many concerned customer calls regarding that," she said.
The baskets are part of a line of prepackaged baskets with toys made by Megatoys.
"We've sold them for several years, this isn't the first year," Dennis said. "They've sold quite well. We'll continue to sell them."
Wal-Mart officials said the military Easter baskets help instill pride in the nation's armed services.
Many Christian denominations have taken strong stands against the looming war against Iraq. The Catholic Church, its bishops and Pope John Paul II have made strong statements against the war, including declaring a U.S. invasion "un-just."
"It goes back to the theory of a just war in the days of Augustine," Nau said. "The feeling now is that this doesn't qualify."