Jollibee's Spider-Man Toy - Shockingly Inappropriate?

MANILA, Philippines – A Spider-Man promotional toy being offered by fast-food giant Jollibee has become the butt of jokes on the Internet.

In an article about the various promotional tie-ins for the Hollywood movie, "The Amazing Spider-Man" posted on the entertainment website Movieline, Jollibee's Spider-Toss toy was listed as an example of the 'odd marketing' strategy employed to promote the reboot of the superhero movie franchise.

“Jollibee also offers a number of toy food promotions with our webbed hero, one of which makes me pause; the Spidey ring-toss toy has a rather curious design. Now, a better person may avoid mentioning this appears to display rectal violation of the web slinger, but amazingly I’m not better than that. Nor am I above noting how he seems to be enjoying things in this particular pose,” Movieline said in its article. Other websites picked up on Jollibee's toy, with the geek website io9.com calling it 'shockingly inappropriate.'

"The most disturbing of the bunch is clearly the Spider-Toss," io9.com said, noting that Spider-Man "appears to be, umm... impaled on a pyramid of his own webbing, while catching the rings that people throw onto him." The website, however, noted that this particular toy is also available at KFC in Malaysia, where it is called "Catch 'Em Spidey."

Jollibee has other Spider-Man-themed items on offer, including the special Spider-Man bucket, which comes free for every order of the “bucket meal” consisting of six pieces of Chickenjoy, three Jolly Spaghetti and three regular drinks for only P475.

Movieline ridiculed other product tie-ins from mostly the United States such as a line of nail polish in Spider-Man colors, sneakers from Striderite and red-dyed Rice Krispy Treats cereals. It also noted a promotion by Carl’s Jr. in the U.S. that encourages customers to come in dressed in a Spider-Man costume to get a free grilled cheese bacon burger. A check into Jollibbee's Facebook page showed that the fast-food chain is no longer promoting the toy, which has been mentioned by local food bloggers since late last month. Jollibee's Facebook page only mentions the Spider-Man bucket and tumbler as part of the movie tie-in promotion.

Source: ABS-CBN News