This is one of a couple of recent articles that have been written about some changes at the Wham-O company and some attempts to get products such as Frisbees and Hacky Sacks going back out the door.
\nThe first thing that came to mind is that these articles came out almost exactly when the World Championships were happening, surely there were opportunities to connect the two topics together.
\nLife was once an easy summer breeze for Wham-O. The Southern California toy outfit, founded in a South Pasadena garage shortly after World War II, churned out Frisbees like pancakes and Super Balls like gumballs.
\nIts Boogie Board (devised in 1971 by Orange County-bred Bahai surfer Tom Morey) stood sentinel in suburban garages. Only squares didn\u2019t own a Hula Hoop (introduced in 1957; 100 million units sold within three years).
\nIn Wham-O\u2019s television ads, its iconic starburst logo dropped into living rooms like a Super Ball off a third-story balcony.
\nTimes sure have changed.
\nOf the many entertainment-centric outfits disrupted by the digital era, few have been upended like Wham-O. Its toys, once symbols of an endless summer, are now relics of a bygone season.\u200e Even the notion of a firm devoted to plastic playthings feels like an anachronism. Why kick around a beanbag when there’s FIFA Mobile Soccer?
\n\n", "content_text": "This is one of a couple of recent articles that have been written about some changes at the Wham-O company and some attempts to get products such as Frisbees and Hacky Sacks going back out the door.\nThe first thing that came to mind is that these articles came out almost exactly when the World Championships were happening, surely there were opportunities to connect the two topics together.\nLife was once an easy summer breeze for Wham-O. The Southern California toy outfit, founded in a South Pasadena garage shortly after World War II, churned out Frisbees like pancakes and Super Balls like gumballs.\nIts Boogie Board (devised in 1971 by Orange County-bred Bahai surfer Tom Morey) stood sentinel in suburban garages. Only squares didn\u2019t own a Hula Hoop (introduced in 1957; 100 million units sold within three years).\nIn Wham-O\u2019s television ads, its iconic starburst logo dropped into living rooms like a Super Ball off a third-story balcony.\nTimes sure have changed.\nOf the many entertainment-centric outfits disrupted by the digital era, few have been upended like Wham-O. Its toys, once symbols of an endless summer, are now relics of a bygone season.\u200e Even the notion of a firm devoted to plastic playthings feels like an anachronism. Why kick around a beanbag when there’s FIFA Mobile Soccer?", "date_published": "2017-08-09T05:40:14+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-08-26T05:51:36+00:00", "author": { "name": "boyle", "url": "https://modified.in/footbagnews/author/boyle/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6f586ab72292c336cdaca834bbc7c660?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "tags": [ "business", "hacky sack brand", "LA Times", "Wham-O", "Newspaper" ] }, { "id": "https://modified.in/footbagnews/2016/11/23/media-post-qawham-o-ceo-wants-to-get-kids-back-outside-2016/", "url": "https://modified.in/footbagnews/2016/11/23/media-post-qawham-o-ceo-wants-to-get-kids-back-outside-2016/", "title": "Media Post \u2013 Q&A:Wham-O CEO Wants to Get Kids Back Outside (2016)", "content_html": "This is an interview with a marketing focus with Wham-O CEO Todd Richards. Like other similar articles, Hacky Sack is one of the brands the company want to entice people back outside with, while also selling more of their own products.
\nRichards, who had previously served as vice president of sales for the company in the early 2000s, returned to the company last December to see this vision through as CEO. Here, he talks with\u00a0Marketing Daily.
\nQ: What has been your mission coming back to the company?
\nA:\u00a0As a kid growing up, like a lot of people my age, I grew up with Wham-O products. I saw this opportunity to bring back to the forefront of consumers the products we have, like Frisbee Slip-n-slide, Hacky Sack and Hula Hoop. These are products everyone knows around the world. I [also saw] a generation of kids that aren\u2019t familiar with Frisbee or Slip-n-Slide.
\n\n", "content_text": "This is an interview with a marketing focus with Wham-O CEO Todd Richards. Like other similar articles, Hacky Sack is one of the brands the company want to entice people back outside with, while also selling more of their own products.\nRichards, who had previously served as vice president of sales for the company in the early 2000s, returned to the company last December to see this vision through as CEO. Here, he talks with\u00a0Marketing Daily.\nQ: What has been your mission coming back to the company?\nA:\u00a0As a kid growing up, like a lot of people my age, I grew up with Wham-O products. I saw this opportunity to bring back to the forefront of consumers the products we have, like Frisbee Slip-n-slide, Hacky Sack and Hula Hoop. These are products everyone knows around the world. I [also saw] a generation of kids that aren\u2019t familiar with Frisbee or Slip-n-Slide.", "date_published": "2016-11-23T06:09:27+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-08-26T06:14:48+00:00", "author": { "name": "boyle", "url": "https://modified.in/footbagnews/author/boyle/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6f586ab72292c336cdaca834bbc7c660?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "tags": [ "hacky sack brand", "Wham-O", "Newspaper" ] } ] }