Smyths Toys breaks down gender stereotypes in new advert

A children's toy advert has received praise from parents after breaking down gender stereotypes with gender neutral marketing.

Smyths Toys have released their latest advert, entitled 'If I Were a Toy' with a theme song following the music of Beyonce's hit 'If I Were A Boy'.

It tells the story of a young boy called Oscar who imagines what his life would be like if he could be a toy for the day. He dreams first of being a rocket, and flying into space, singing, 'I'd be soaring like a rocket and shouting "hey let's play!"'.

From there Oscar begins to drop towards the earth for the next game and falls into a pink dress with a tiara landing on his head. As he stands in a castle and looks out, waving, he continues to sing, 'be the queen of the land'.

Throughout the advert he goes on to dance with robots and ride on a motorbike, showing how much fun many different toys can be to play with.

Although the advert is undeniably lovely, it's the way Oscar happily dresses up in a typically female outfit and enjoys playing as a queen which has pleased many parents.

Reactions on Twitter have been hugely positive with critics praising Smyths Toys for their refreshing approach.

One fan said, 'Well done @SmythsToysUK - great advert normalising children playing with whatever toy they want, regardless of gender. 👏🏼 #ifiwereatoy' whilst another agreed, '#ifiwereatoy ... single-handedly one of the cutest forward-thinking commercials out there. Brilliant! @SmythsToysUK 😍👑'.

Twitter users have continued to congratulate Smyths Toys, with tweets such as 'Kudos to @SmythsToysUK for promoting non-gender-stereotyped toys 👏👏👏#ifiwereatoy' to which the toy brand has been positively responding agreeing that all toys are for all children.

What do you think of the new Smyths Toys advert? Do you think your children would prefer a mix of gender stereotyped gifts this year?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jitdxQpsHbE