Will you take your dog to see Shrek the Third?

How do you know when you’ve stepped over the line?

When does the ludicrous become normal?

I was shopping with Pauline today. We were buying mundane things like milk.

As we headed through one area of the supermarket I noticed a large stand full of merchandising for the new Shrek movie. I know that a large percentage of movie profits these days come from all the bits and pieces that are sold. You can buy dolls, lunchboxes, costumes, soundtracks, plush toys, mugs, clothing, games and even Pez dispensers.

I need to admit that we’ve bought movie merchandise for our kids on more than one occasion. I think we could probably do without it but it’s kind of cute. We’ve loved the Shrek movie series and we’re very likely to get out and see the latest installment as soon as it’s released.

The reason the merchandise stand grabbed my attention today is that it was full of pet products. We love our cat but I fail to understand why anyone would want to pay a premium price so that their pet can eat from a bowl with a picture of Princess Fiona on it. I don’t know what difference it makes to a dog whether they’re playing tug-of-war with an old piece of rope or a designer shrek tug-of-war toy. The stand was full of items to help enhance the whole Shrek experience for Rover or Tiddles.

Let’s face it – the animals don’t know what the fuss is all about. If we buy the Shrek or any other kind of licensed pet products we’re buying them for ourselves. What is the real benefit we receive?

Have we stepped over the line when we start paying the high price of such items for animals? I guess the next question is a harder one to answer. Did we step over that line years ago with some of the other items around our homes that we’ve bought for ourselves?

Movie merchandise for pets may be an obvious over-indulgence but what about the stuff that’s not so obvious? What about the things that we happily justify buying yet we really don’t need?

As you’ve probably read here before, I’ve visited India on a couple of occasions and seen some incredible poverty. Even here in Australia there are people living well below the poverty line. Have I let the pain of others touch my life to the point where I change the way I live? Do I really have the right to buy whatever I like when millions of people don’t even have clean water to drink?

I suppose there’s a balance to be found somewhere.

Being on a comparatively low wage I can convince myself that we’re poor, but looking at my family and the material things we’ve been blessed with I know that’s not the case.

Maybe it’s just a reminder that life isn’t all about purchasing and consuming.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Technorati Tags: Shrek – Merchandise – Pets

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