Top Five Toys My Dog Loves (that should probably be thrown away...)

Sob Story 3

I blogged last month about the plethora of Toy Story 3 mail-in promotions and all the great stuff that was up for grabs, but sadly I must report that at least one of those offers has ended prematurely.

Sara Lee bread was offering a free Buzz Lightyear soft lunchbox with the purchase of 5 Sara Lee “Soft & Smooth” loaves of bread, buns or bagels. I mailed in my UPC codes weeks ago and have been checking my mailbox each day, eagerly anticipating the arrival of that squishable sandwich sack.

My pulse skipped a beat today when I spotted a piece of mail addressed from Sara Lee
herself; but my excitement quickly turned to dismay when I realized that a lunchbox could not fit inside a postcard, no matter how pliable it may be. No, as it turns out, I will be forced to brown bag it for a little while longer, at least.

The postcard thanked me for my recent participation in the Sara Lee Soft & Smooth Mealtime is Funtime offer, but regretted to inform me that due to the immense popularity of this free offer, distribution of all available Toy Story merchandise was depleted in record time. I can at least take some solace in knowing that I was part of a record. (I wonder if a representative from Guinness World Records was on hand to make it official). But it was not all bad news.

Sara Lee—the stand up lady that she is—won’t send us latecomers away empty handed. Because Sara Lee values me as a customer, I will be receiving an alternate Toy Story tin lunchbox of comparable market value (which was like $14.99). This may actually turn out to be good thing, because as cool as a light-up, soft lunchbox may be, a tin lunchbox is a classic and the odds of it including a matching thermos just went up 1000-percent.

The lunchbox was the main event of this mail-in promotion, but there was also the option to send away for a plate and cup set or a sectioned plate! The official Sara Lee Toy Story 3 promotion website now lists all items as out of stock, but one has to wonder if the less desirable dinnerware is actually gone forever. If you wish to try your luck, you can still print out the official order from, but don’t delay; who knows how long that link will remain active.

I ran a quick search on eBay to see if anyone had received their Toy Story lunchbox, but I only found one link with an item resembling the lunchbox from the photos. The auction ended without any bidders, so if you absolutely must have your light-up, soft Toy Story 3 lunchbox, it looks like you might be able to grab one for under ten bucks.

Top Five Anthropomorphic Mascots from the 80's with Futures so Bright, They had to Wear Sunglasses

The Energizer Bunny

Today this pink percussionist is synonymous with Energizer batteries, but did you know that the original Energizer Bunny commercial was actually a parody of a Duracell batteries campaign starring pink toy bunnies? Energizer mocked Duracell’s claim that Duracell batteries lasted longer because Duracell was only comparing the lifespan of their batteries to carbon batteries and not alkaline batteries like Energizer.

When Duracell allowed their trademark to expire on the pink bunny, Energizer swooped in and filed a trademark for their cottontail. You won’t see the Duracell bunnies stateside anymore, but those original pink battery bunnies can still be seen in Europe. However, much like the Johnny Cash cover of the Nine Inch Nails song “Hurt", most mistake the latter as preceding the former.

The original Energizer Bunny ad also predates the ubiquitous slogan “it keeps going… and going… and going” and instead proclaims “a word to the wise – Energize”. The current slogan is most appropriate, considering that, of the five mascots on this list, only the Energizer Bunny is still collecting checks as a mascot.