To not understand FRIENDS merchandise aimed at (young) kids

[mrsfoof]

Shopping in Asda today, there were a few items of 'FRIENDS' branded clothing aimed at young girls. The smallest size was 5/6 years.
Do children this young watch Friends? I presume they do, as otherwise why would they want logoed t-shirts etc.

I'm quite surprised as I'm watching reruns of the shows myself as my 11 year old has been pestering me to watch it and I'm trying to decide if it's suitable for their age group. I am still on the fence as to whether I think it's ok for a 'young' 11 year old but certainly wouldn't want a 5/6/7/8/9 year old watching it. I can't imagine they'd find it interesting either at that age.

A five-year-old wearing a t-shirt with a TV show on it doesn't mean they're watching it. They're wearing it because the parents like the show, not because they like it. It's more like an ironic thing - you can also buy (eg) Iron Maiden t-shirts for toddlers but it doesn't mean they're listening to Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter as a lullaby.

I would have zero issue with an 11-year-old watching Friends. Any references to sex etc are very mild.

My 7 year old loves Friends. She doesn't understand all of it but enjoys the more obvious/slapstick jokes and likes the characters.

People buy it for their kids or their friends kids

I had a friends pencil case when I was 7 (back in the 90s). I loved it - the sexual stuff went over my head but i grown up watching it and I enjoyed it

It’s just a fashionable thing, I think. It’s probably more to do with parents liking the show. But I think it’s just more of a ‘trend’. Friends have become a kind of ‘classic’ image, teens are getting into it and it filters down to younger years. I reckon there are also plenty of people who might wear a Marilyn Monroe T-shirt despite never watching one of her films. Some adults still wear things branded with Micky Mouse, but don’t watch Micky Mouse cartoons. It’s a fashion thing, don’t read to much into it.

These things are mostly for the parents. The kids who do watch are laughing things at the obvious jokes like the turkey on Joeys head. They don't understand the sex stuff.

I watched friends from when I was 8 years old. I absolutely loved it and watched it on repeat my whole life since! A lot of the ruder jokes etc went straight over my head until late teens/early twenties! And Friends now is probably the most innocent thing they can watch compared to love island, social media, music videos etc that a lot of 11 year olds will be watching already.

The one thing I don’t like about Friends is that it references porn a lot. So while the sex references are mild I find them speaking about porn so much quite problematic for children.

I was just thinking this the other day. I love Friends and the merchandise but don't think it's an appropriate show for young kids so don't understand why it's on products aimed at kids. As much as I love it, I wouldn't buy anything for kids with it on.

Lots of children's clothes are aimed at parents though. My ds1 had a gremlins t-shirt when he was a preschooler and now ds2 wears it. Neither have watched gremlins but it's one of DH's favourite films so he bought it and both the boys like the picture. I would imagine a lot of the friends clothes just have the word friends on it or quotes from the show that children may find funny without having watched the show. Ds1 is 8 and watched clips of it and finds it funny. Knowing him a lot of the more adult references would go right over his head.

The one thing I don’t like about Friends is that it references porn a lot. So while the sex references are mild I find them speaking about porn so much quite problematic for children.

It depends how you’re watching it - if you stream it on Netflix there’s nothing held back. I used to have some of the episodes on video when I was a teen (I feel so old saying that 😂) and some were PG but some certified 12, and clearly for a reason.
If you watch re-runs on tv in the middle of the day it’s edited. Some of the episodes may not even make sense in parts if you hadn’t watched the original.

I’ve been wondering this! See so much friends merchandise aimed at my daughters age (11) but I’m not sure I’m ok with her watching it. I’ve just started rewatching to see if it’s appropriate for her.

I'm not sure I'd let my 10 year old watch it. He knows about sex and that some people have sex because they enjoy it rather than to make babies, but some of the jokes and stereotypes haven't aged well.

Kids clothing designers are insane, that’s all there is to it. There are some good guys at Lands End and White Stuff but mostly, the industry is just mad and lets any old trainee design kids tops. Half the clothes aimed at young boys have sharks on. DS hates them, he likes kittens, flowers, space exploration and classical music.

I have never met a boy who adores sharks.

I think friends is problematic for anyone under eleven to be honest and even older than that I would need to have clear discussions about the issues they cover and how they are presented.
Off the top of my head.

Normalising porn.
One sided presentation of surrogacy.
Minimising of adoption.
Sexism.
Homophobia.
Glamourising commitless dating.
Consequence free casual sex.

I don’t agree it’s innocent.
i watch it with my 13 year old and some of it makes me wince. Some of it has aged very badly and what was acceptable then isn’t now.

i watch it with my 13 year old and some of it makes me wince. Some of it has aged very badly and what was acceptable then isn’t now.

I don't disagree, but you're looking at it through the eyes of an adult. Children won't see half of the stuff we see.

@BaddityHabbityHoppingPot wow lighten up a bit! Friends is a comedy show not a documentary! Yes some of the references are a bit dated now but that's because it's 30 years old. And what's wrong with dating around/casual sex? You sound very judgemental.

My daughters watched them all and loved it. It was a good couple of year ago too so she must of been about 9 max.

Sex stuff went over her head.
She just liked all the things a child finds funny like Joey always saying he doesn’t share food & joey with the turkey on his head.

There’s always one 😳

I think friends is problematic for anyone under eleven to be honest and even older than that I would need to have clear discussions about the issues they cover and how they are presented.
Off the top of my head

Normalising porn.
One sided presentation of surrogacy.
Minimising of adoption.
Sexism.
Homophobia.
Glamourising commitless dating.
Consequence free casual sex

I honestly agree with all of this. I watched Friends in my formative years and genuinely wish I hadn't - the messaging I got from it was that women were there to be controlled and used by men, to look nice for them, and to be mothers for them when they decided. It sounds a bit dramatic but I really dislike the stereotypes and sexism in it.

Back to the OP, yanbu although I have put my baby in Harry Potter clothes so maybe I'm a hypocrite 😄

My 11 yo watched it with me recently and there were some parts I felt were a bit much but I used it as a chance to talk about how attitudes have changed, how it would be made differently today etc.

I get the whole "it's gone over their head" thing which is fine for the odd joke but so much of friends is focused on sex and relationships, there's not that much slapstick or physical comedy that would make it good or funny for anyone much younger than 10/11. There's plenty else out there they could watch and save Friends for a little later. I think it's sad that kids are rushed onto things before they're old enough to really get it..my 11yo is just as happy to watch Disney films still and isn't bothered about pushing the envelope with Stranger Things or similar. She's is no rush to grow up.

YANBU. I hate slogans on children's clothes too. My biggest hate is tops with bands that even their parents would have been far too young for.

It really perplexes me, and I find it slightly sinister.

The running 'joke' in many of the episodes was Joey sleeping with women and not calling them again.

Even back when the episodes were brand new I thought this was a ridiculous storyline, so wonder what youngsters think about that?
Young guy spends the night with a stranger woman, she obviously falls in love and is desperate to see him again, man hides from her in order to seek a new stranger woman to 'sleep with'

Much preferred the Sex & the city narrative ( though obviously not suitable for kids 😁)

No I don't think 5 year olds watch friends. The Asda/George older kids range is from 4 to 14. So they make the same clothes in all of those sizes. A bizarre choice IMO as there are very few interests/styles which cross that whole age band. From what I've seen, they cater more for the older age so they have loads of young kids clothes which are inappropriate, dull or weird.