To much of the Gen Z population, Arthur was a prominent part of childhood. At the end of every episode, Arthur learns a valuable lesson about how to be a good person and the importance of becoming a functioning member of society, as all aardvarks are expected to be.
In the episode “Arthur Sells Out”, Arthur finds boxes of old toys that he wants to get rid of and decides to advertise them on the school’s website in hopes of making a pretty penny. He plans on using the money he earns to buy a new and exciting video game called “Dark Bunny: Revenge of the Moomies”. To Arthur’s dismay, no one seemed interested in any of his toys. He then asks for help from his good friend Muffy, a 3rd grade sales guru monkey. She becomes instrumental in the selling process by educating him on the importance of various marketing tactics such as posting a quality picture of the product, using captivating lingo in the description, and creating an attractive layout for the ad that is easy to read and grabs the buyer’s attention. Lo and behold, Arthur’s toys begin to sell like hotcakes. With only a few unsold items left, Arthur believes that all he needs is the right hook. This is when Arthur begins to engage in some nefarious sales tactics, such as posting ads that are dishonest about the true conditions of the products.
The next day, James the Bunny stops by Arthur’s house to check out the remaining toys for sale. He decides to buy a Robotron action figure. However, James is unaware of the toy’s poor condition until he has already purchased it and plays with it moments after. Being the cheapskate that he is, Arthur does not give his money back, leaving James feeling betrayed and outright bamboozled. Arthur’s dastardly behavior is luckily dealt with when his friend Baxter calls him out for ripping off James and valuing a couple quarters over their friendship. After realizing that he has the moral backbone of a jellyfish, Arthur decides to do the right thing and buys James a brand new Robotron instead of the video game he has been saving up for. At the end of the day, Arthur learns a valuable lesson about being an honest sales person that he will hopefully carry with him for the remainder of his short aardvark life. However, one thing is for certain; as long as the show goes on, Arthur will continue being a menace to society.
BoweryJE22
Great post! It was well written and provided a great example of lying as a bad sales technique and the consequences that can ensue. Arthur kind of seems like the used car salesman of toys in this case, providing false impressions of the quality of his items for sale.
This is a really interesting example of selling, nice job pointing it out. Its also This instance in the show provides multiple examples of how NOT to sell.