[WiZ] Solved in 24 hours, or it's free

[WiZ]

I'm not joking about the title; this is probably the last day I'll be able to host this year

Sales of a children's product increased dramatically due to a single swear word. How?

True story. Caveat earlispoilor.

[trebor]

Was the swear word on the product? Was it said by a celebrity who endorsed the product? Is the name of the product relevant?

Also, PMing guess unrelated to these questions.

[WiZ]

Was the swear word on the product? no Was it said by a celebrity who endorsed the product? yope Is the name of the product relevant? It's a branded product, but the name is innocuous in and of itself

[Doriana]

Does the toy make any relevant sounds? Does one of them sound like a swearword? Is one of them actually a swearword?

[WiZ]

Does the toy make any relevant sounds? not by design Does one of them sound like a swearword? no Is one of them actually a swearword? no

[gregoryuconn]

Does the product name sound like a swear word? Was this intentional? Is the relevant swear word s***? F***? A**? B****? Crap? Hell? Some vulgar term for a person's genitalia? Is it Ding Dongs by any chance? Or Ho Hos? Or some other product with a similarly risque name?

[KayleeArafinwiel]

Along the lines of Gregory's questions, Bimbo Bread?

[WiZ]

GregoryUConn

Does the product name sound like a swear word? no Was this intentional? Is the relevant swear word s***? F***? A**? B****? Crap? Hell? Some vulgar term for a person's genitalia? Is it Ding Dongs by any chance? Or Ho Hos? Or some other product with a similarly risque name? n/a to rest

Kaylee

Along the lines of Gregory's questions, Bimbo Bread? no

[Balin]

Was the swear word spoken? Read?
Was it present in an advertisement for the product? A commercial? (if so, on TV? on radio?)
Is the swear word present at all in the name of the product? If the name of the product is misinterpreted?

[KayleeArafinwiel]

A typo relevant? unfortunate spacing? "The Problem of Pen Island", as TVTropes calls this issue? "psychotherapist" can be pretty unfortunate too when broken up on, say, a door sign...

[Earnest]

Is a pun involved (e.g. f**k instead of funck)? Relevant which product? A toy? A stroller? A pacifier? A diaper? Others? Is the brand relevant?

Is the swear sword written/told voluntarily in order people to understand the necessity of the product? Is censorship relevant? (E.g. parental control in TVs...) headphones?

Does the swear word refer to the same products whose sales increased? Or is it referred to a cuncurrent product? Or to the "situation"/thing that the children product aimed to solve/help with? Swear word told by a child?

[peter365]

Is the product edible? a toy? clothing? related to education?

Did this happen globally or in a specific place? Accents or local slang/dialect relevant? Is the word only considered a swear word in one place?

Is there an element of PC gone mad going on here?

[trebor]

Did a relevant person tweet the swear? Otherwise put it on social media? In print? Sign it? Is marketing for the product relevant?

[WiZ]

Balin

Was the swear word spoken? yes Read? no
Was it present in an advertisement for the product? yope A commercial? yope (if so, on TV? on radio?) no to both
Is the swear word present at all in the name of the product? no If the name of the product is misinterpreted? no

Kaylee Kitteh

A typo relevant? unfortunate spacing? no to both "The Problem of Pen Island", as TVTropes calls this issue? "psychotherapist" can be pretty unfortunate too when broken up on, say, a door sign... I'm a sucker for a TVTropes reference, but this particular trope isn't key to the solution

Earnest

Is a pun involved (e.g. f**k instead of funck)? No (and now I have a Black Eyed Peas song stuck in my head) Relevant which product? yes A toy? yes A stroller? A pacifier? A diaper? Others? no to rest Is the brand relevant? yes

Is the swear sword written/told voluntarily in order people to understand the necessity of the product? no Is censorship relevant? yes (E.g. parental control in TVs...) no, but ORT headphones? no

Does the swear word refer to the same products whose sales increased? It was used in the context of this product Or is it referred to a cuncurrent product? no Or to the "situation"/thing that the children product aimed to solve/help with? no Swear word told by a child? no

Peter

Is the product edible? Everything is edible once - but this is not any kind of foodstuff a toy? yes clothing? related to education? no to rest

Did this happen globally or in a specific place? globally, more or less Accents or local slang/dialect relevant? yeah, nah, mate Is the word only considered a swear word in one place? It would have been considered broadly offensive

Is there an element of PC gone mad going on here? no

Trebor

Did a relevant person tweet the swear? #no Otherwise put it on social media? In print? Sign it? no to these Is marketing for the product relevant? yes

[LemonCurry]

Is the swearword bleeped over? Replaced by another word?

[peter365]

Was the marketing directly aimed at the children or more the parents? Is this toy something adults would play with too?

Are TV watersheds relevant? Is the product being endorsed by a character that appears in a kids TV show?

[WiZ]

LemonCurry

Is the swearword bleeped over? Replaced by another word? no to both

Peter

Was the marketing directly aimed at the children yes or more the parents? no Is this toy something adults would play with too? Some adults, certainly.

Are TV watersheds relevant? no Is the product being endorsed by a character that appears in a kids TV show? no but ORT

[peter365]

Is it a well known toy? Something massively global like Lego , Transformers or Barbie Dolls? Is it a gender neutral toy? or targetted at boys or girls?

Do we need to establish the swear word to solve? I'm loathe to invoke the LTPF list of swear words but I'm equally loathe to start listing some. Was the swear word actually represented by something else but it was an obvious reference? Is the phrase 'See you next Tuesday' relevant?

[WiZ]

Is it a well known toy? yes Something massively global like Lego , Transformers this, very good or Barbie Dolls? Is it a gender neutral toy? or targetted at boys or girls? Primarily targeted at boys - although (of course) there is a Wiki page which goes into considerable depth as to the exceptions...

Do we need to establish the swear word to solve? no, fortunately I'm loathe to invoke the LTPF list of swear words but I'm equally loathe to start listing some Understandably. Was the swear word actually represented by something else but it was an obvious reference? no, the word itself was used Is the phrase 'See you next Tuesday' relevant? no (I'm not sure that even constitutes a swear-word in Australasia...)

[Balin]

Are the recent Michael Bay movies relevant? Any other film adaptations? TV? Other media?

[WiZ]

Are the recent Michael Bay movies relevant? no Any other film adaptations? yes (NB: no further knowledge of the early films is needed) TV? Other media? no to both

[Balin]

Did the swear word appear in marketing for the toys themselves? In marketing for the film? In trailers?
Did the swear word appear visually (written)? Audibly (spoken)?

[WiZ]

Did the swear word appear in marketing for the toys themselves? In marketing for the film? In trailers? no to all
Did the swear word appear visually (written)? no Audibly (spoken)? yes

[Balin]

Did the swear word appear in the film?

[Balin]

HANGONHANGONHANGON

The swear word appearing in the film would change its rating, which would mean more people would go see it?

[WiZ]

Did the swear word appear in the film? yes

The swear word appearing in the film would change its rating yes, which would mean more people would go see it? yes - but there is another, more precise tactical advantage

[Balin]

Backing up a bit: did sales increase among children? Teens? Adults?
Was the swear word intended to increase sales? Among the targeted audience?
Was the rating change from (using US ratings here, insert whatever continent/country's equivalent as a substitute) G to PG? PG to PG13?
Is it relevant which character spoke the swear? Was the speaker a character at all?

[Enjay]

Were people more likely to see the film if it has swearing in, specifically, rather than another reason for a higher rating? Would people be unwilling to let their children see a film with violence or nudity, but would be OK with a single swear word? Meanwhile people who might avoid a U/G/whatever rated film thinking it is childish would be more likely to go and see it?

[WiZ]

Balin

Backing up a bit: did sales increase among children? yes Teens? Adults? not relevantly
Was the swear word intended to increase sales? yes Among the targeted audience? yes
Was the rating change from (using US ratings here, insert whatever continent/country's equivalent as a substitute) G to PG? this PG to PG13?
Is it relevant which character spoke the swear? no Was the speaker a character at all? yes

Enjay

Were people more likely to see the film if it has swearing in, specifically, rather than another reason for a higher rating? no - the swearing was not intended to attract audiences in its own right Would people be unwilling to let their children see a film with violence or nudity, but would be OK with a single swear word? This is true; the coarse language would serve its purpose without disincentivising parents too much Meanwhile people who might avoid a U/G/whatever rated film thinking it is childish would be more likely to go and see it? not relevantly

[Enjay]

Just to be clear, is the product the statement refers to the Transformers toys? Tickets to the film itself? DVDs/home video of the film?

If the toys, did it increase sales by getting more people to see the film, who then bought the toys? By making people like the film more therefore wanting the toys? By making people buy the toys instead of taking their kids to a PG film?

If the tickets, did they sell more by making parents go with their kids? (Though I can't believe many parents drop their young children off at the cinema without buying a ticket...)

[WiZ]

Just to be clear, is the product the statement refers to the Transformers toys? Correct Tickets to the film itself? DVDs/home video of the film? no to these, although sales of these would also have increased

If the toys, did it increase sales by getting more people to see the film, who then bought the toys? strictly speaking, yes By making people like the film more therefore wanting the toys? yesish; 'like the film' isn't quite right By making people buy the toys instead of taking their kids to a PG film? no

If the tickets, did they sell more by making parents go with their kids? Yes, this is a key part of the stratagem (Though I can't believe many parents drop their young children off at the cinema without buying a ticket...)

[Balin]

Are film reviews relevant? Is it relevant that movie makers generally aim to avoid a G rating?

[WiZ]

Are film reviews relevant? Is it relevant that movie makers generally aim to avoid a G rating? no to both

[Enjay]

Did they think the PG rating would get more adults into the cinemas because they had to accompany their kids? Was the idea that children would pester their parents for the toys? That parents would recognise the toys from the films and so buy them? That adults would buy the toys for themselves? Is the general idea that the toys are desired by children but actually bought by their parents relevant?

Did the plan rely on people seeing the films, then buying the toys? The other way around? Is any kind of linking promotion relevant (eg discounted toys if you see the film?)

[WiZ]

Did they think the PG rating would get more adults into the cinemas because they had to accompany their kids? yes Was the idea that children would pester their parents for the toys? That parents would recognise the toys from the films and so buy them? That adults would buy the toys for themselves? Is the general idea that the toys are desired by children but actually bought by their parents relevant? Yes to all four!

***** SPOILER *****

The 1986 film Transformers: The Film included a token swear-word in the dialogue to bump the rating from G to PG. This meant that parents would accompany children to the film. The children would pester their parents to buy the transformers merchandise, the parents would familiarise themselves with the canon and understand better who was on whose side and why you couldn't buy Wildrider without his fellow Stunticon Drag Strip, and possibly become addicted to the franchise themselves. Sales soared.

Congratulations, Enjay, on the solution, and thank you everyone for playing! The puzzle was solved in 456 hours, and is therefore free.