A George Bush doll? OK.
One that talks? Cool.
In complete sentences? Even better.
And one that punctuates its statements with the sound of passing gas? Uh . . .
“We didn’t know if there’d be black cars in front of our homes or if the IRS would be stopping by,” said Jamie Wirt, CEO of Tekky Toys of Orland Park.
Wirt and Tekky co-founder Geoff Bevington are selling the Pull My Finger President doll, which, while not naming Bush, is clearly modeled on him. You pull the presidential finger–actually, you pinch it–and the doll will utter one of seven lines, accompanied by the ever-juvenile and ever-popular sound of a fart.
“Osama (use your imagination and insert the sound), your mama!”
“Read my lips (ditto).”
“Hey, Saddam, here’s a weapon of mass destruction (again).”
You get the idea.
Pull My Finger President is the latest “Pull My Finger” plush toy from Tekky. The first was Pull My Finger Fred, which has sold about 300,000 dolls, according to Wirt and Bevington. Fred was followed by half a dozen others, all with the same theme.
“Nothing says Christmas like Pull My Finger Santa,” Wirt pointed out.
They’ve sold 25,000 of the Presidential toys so far, and sales are picking up. It’s obvious why Bush bashers would go for them, but the dolls’ popularity extends to the other end of the political spectrum as well.
“We show it to people, and they see what they want to see,” Bevington said. “We show it to conservative Republicans, and they love it.”
They’ve even heard that the man himself likes it.
“A friend of one of our distributors is in the Secret Service, detailed in Crawford [at the Bush ranch in Texas],” Wirt said. “And we heard the agent supposedly showed it to Bush and he pulled the finger and he got a laugh out of it.”
Of course, Pull My Finger President may not have much of a shelf life. November is fast approaching.
“If he wins, we keep rolling,” Wirt said. “If Bush loses, he goes into the discount bin.”
He was referring to the doll. We think.
The 8-inch dolls, priced at $14.99, are available at Uncle Fun on Belmont Avenue in Chicago, selected K-B Toy stores and through www.getcoolstuff.com.
