Potty humour: Toy makers turn to the toilet to come up with poop-inspired toys

Move over, cars and dolls. New-age toys are all about chuckling at poop-inspired toys.

Toy makers have gone to the toilet for their latest creations. Mattel, a company best known for its clean-cut Barbie dolls, is set to release a game called Flushin’ Frenzy that sends a brown plastic poop flying into the air. Rival Hasbro, whose water-squirting game Toilet Trouble was a hit last year, stuck with the potty humour this year and released Don’t Step In It, a game where players are blindfolded and have to avoid stepping in poop that’s molded out of a clay-like substance.

In Don't Step In It, players place mounds of brown compound on the game mat, then take turns spinning the spinner to find out how many steps to take across the mat while blindfolded.

Toy analysts and experts say the potty-related toys are hitting stores now because of the popularity of the poop emoji, which has also made it more acceptable for parents to buy poop toys for their kids. At the New York Toy Fair this weekend, toy makers showed off poo-shaped action figures, squishy toys and other creatures from the toilet. “Yeah, poop is a theme,” says Juli Lennett, the toy analyst at market research company The NPD Group. “Kids think it’s funny.”

Poopeez are aimed at boys aged 7-years-old and up, says Ashley Mady, who created Poopeez and works for toy company Basic Fun. But she thinks the appeal will spread. “We really believe poop is for everyone,” she says.

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