As the nation heads toward war, retailers are preparing to stock merchandise ranging from peace flags to camouflage clothing. But at least one item, a commando Easter basket, has prompted Walgreens, the nation's largest drugstore chain, to question its appropriateness.
Walgreens has announced that it is removing from its shelves a prepackaged Easter basket that features ammo-strapped plastic soldiers, assault rifles, tanks and helicopters perched atop candy and fake grass.
"Easter is a season of peace, and we do not feel that it is appropriate to combine Easter with the military," said Carol Hively, a spokeswoman for the Deerfield, Ill., company. She said the baskets were ordered in early summer, long before war with Iraq was imminent. Last week, however, the company began getting calls about the baskets, which prompted the recall.
Even for a country that has long commercialized the sacred, this is surely one of the more bizarre product mixes marking the day that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. The baskets, which continue to be on sale at Kmarts and Wal-Marts from Newport to Portland and nationwide, are an arresting sight.
Amid the packages of Peeps, chocolate bunnies and pastel M&Ms are giant cellophane-wrapped baskets. If the military's not your thing, Kmart offers a police SWAT basket, complete with lunging German shepherd.
Like many Christian rituals, the Easter basket has roots in pagan traditions. The egg was viewed by many ancient cultures, including the Greeks and Romans, as a symbol of fertility and immortality. Early Christian converts adapted their former rituals, and by the Middle Ages the eggs were exchanged and dyed throughout Europe.
The rabbit dates to the ancient Anglo-Saxons, who in springtime worshipped a goddess of fertility called Eostra, from which the word "Easter" is derived. Eostra was represented by a hare; eventually, the animal became a symbol of Easter in Germany.
Significant to retailers Although Easter is regarded by many as the holiest season of the Christian calendar, it has become increasingly significant to retailers. According to the National Confectioners Association, a trade group in Vienna, Va., Easter candy sales exceeded $1.8 billion in 2002.
But marketing war toys as just another twist on the Easter story takes matters to a new level.
"I just don't see the connection between Easter, which is the celebration of new life, and these other symbols, which glorify death and destruction," said the Rev. E.B. Painter, , a priest at the Madeleine Church in Portland.
Deidra Johnson, a teacher at the Friends Christian Preschool in Portland, which resides in the traditionally pacifist Quaker Church, was aghast.
"They're putting God with war," Johnson said. "It would be one thing if it were just the military figures alone, but they're in there with Easter symbols.
"We teach the kids that people have all kinds of jobs. Sometimes people are in the military, and their job is to protect our country and sometimes other people too. But an Easter basket with machine guns? This is something else."
Robert Burnett, a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in Christian-based family therapy in Salem and Portland, agreed. "It doesn't seem congruent with the message of the season, I'll say that much."
Burnett questioned how such an item could possibly be instructive. "I wouldn't buy such a thing for my children or grandkids, that's for sure. I hate to see such a beautiful holiday so commercialized. Someone must be making some money off it."
Indeed, they are.
Companies respond Susan Dennis, a spokeswoman for Kmart in Troy, Mich., said: "Our prepackaged Easter baskets have been a popular item for us for many years. We offer an assortment of candies and toys that appeal to boys as well as girls. Our goal is to offer our customers a wide variety of products to choose from, and we apologize to anyone who may be offended by any of them."
Karen Burk, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart in Bentonville, Ark., said she was unaware of any customer complaints. "We share in the pride of all Americans toward our servicemen and women," Burk said. "Toy soldiers have proven to be a popular item for children for decades."
The commando Easter basket flap nonplused Maureen Meisner, a spokeswoman at the Portland recruiting battalion of the U.S. Army. She was unaware of the baskets and said that the Army did not endorse them.
"I've got three kids, and through the years I've noticed all sorts of toys not associated with Easter winding up in Easter baskets," she said. "There are Barbies and Slinkies, all kinds of things. This is not new."
But would she buy the combat basket for her children?
"You're talking to the wrong mother on that one," Meisner said. "You bet I would." Gabrielle Glaser: 503-221-8271; gabrielleglaser@@news.oregonian.com