I'm going to give out pony loot bags to kids in cinemas at EqG 2

[moonsugar]

...and it's being met with mixed opinions.

Okay, so what I decided I want to do is get together with my local brony group and pool resources and buy some cheap pony things off eBay- stickers, rubber bracelets, temporary tattoos, blind bags, maybe a pack of trading cards, general fun kiddie loot- and spend an afternoon putting together loot bags to hand out to kids, when we go to see the second Equestria Girls movie. I love kids and making people happy, and I know if I were a kid, I'd be over the moon if someone gave me a bag of neat stuff.

Now, I don't see the parents as an issue in this. I plan to be friendly and polite, and approach them to introduce myself and what I'm doing and what's in the bags, and ask for their permission first. Some parents might decline, and I'm okay with that. But some people are worried that "in today's society" people giving away things to kids without a good reason might be seen as suspicious or predatory. I think that as long as I'm polite and friendly and explain myself, I should be okay, but...

What's your opinion?

(P.S. Here are the loot bags I'm thinking of using, which design do you like better?)
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[phoenixsoul85]

Great idea.  Check with the cinema and see if they are alright with it first.  Love the Celestia bag but kids may like the mane six so they have a better chance of seeing their favorite pony represented.  Best wishes!!!

[UnicornCandy]

Wait, wait, wait!

Theres going to be a second film!?!

[Dragonflitter]

You know there's a lot of paranoid people in today's society. I don't have kids, but one of my friends is a mom with three kids and she's so paranoid I feel like her kids never get to have ANY fun! (Recently she refused to sign a field trip form to a place, because the form asked for 'global rights to publish anything your child writes or draws at the location.' I'm sure it was just a standard release form, but she was so worried about it that she didn't sign the form so her kids missed out on the field trip.)

So yeah, there's always going to be paranoid people out there. But we can't let these people dictate how you're going to live YOUR life. I say for sure you should put these little goody bags together for the kids! It would be so cute! I like both of the designs, though it's nice that the second design has all the Mane 6 on it

[thesugarpuppie]

You might want to try to organize it with the theatre.  That way they can let the parents know and check the bags out before hand.  I'm not sure how feasible that is, but it would probably lend more credibility because people are paranoid and with things that have been in the news in the last few years, they have reason to be.

An example of what I'm talking about though would be to say, I'm going to see the movie at such and such time.  I made some goody bags for the children and wanted to know if you/I could you give these out to people coming into that particular room? 

Let them know that you bought a bunch of goodies for the bags and you just wanted to do something nice.

[moonsugar]

You might want to try to organize it with the theatre.  That way they can let the parents know and check the bags out before hand.  I'm not sure how feasible that is, but it would probably lend more credibility because people are paranoid and with things that have been in the news in the last few years, they have reason to be.

An example of what I'm talking about though would be to say, I'm going to see the movie at such and such time.  I made some goody bags for the children and wanted to know if you/I could you give these out to people coming into that particular room? 

Let them know that you bought a bunch of goodies for the bags and you just wanted to do something nice.

I like the idea of asking if I could give them out at the door. That sounds a lot better than trying to pick my way through the aisles, actually!

[melodys_angel]

I agree, check with the theatre first <3

[Kitkumi]

I agree with what has already been said about trying to work with the theater. If you could hand things out at the door it would go so much easier and you wouldn't have to approach people, which may help ease any worries. Also, I think this is a great idea and very sweet

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Definitely get the theatre owner's permission first or the theatre may call the police on you themselves.

Secondly, as a parent, unless it was the theatre/promo company employees  *in uniform* passing these treat bags out, I would be utterly creeped out.  A lot of parents don't pay that much attention to what their child is doing, but there would be some who would have issue with a social club of adults trying to engage children in conversation.

Maybe try this plan with a local family-based charity...  provide tickets and goodies to  kids who can't afford to attend...

[True]

I agree with the comments above. Being a parent I'm also creeped out by it, but at the same time, id take a look through it before I handed it over to my son. so Id probably accept one xD. This isnt as bad to me as people who randomly try and give my son money. I dont understand that at all, and I dont know why it bothers me so much, but there have been 3 incidents where an older person has tried to hand money to my son. I'm not saying I'm so well off that I dont need it, but I dont dress my son "poorly" looking either, so I assume its just an older person trying to brighten a kids day or something. But it still makes me feel really uncomfortable. D: (am i just being selfish?) I dunno

Otherwise yeah if you worked something out with the cinema it would probably be a lot more comforting to us paranoid parents xD. But there might be licensing issues. For instance, I know you have all the best intentions, and it sounds like lots of fun. But the theater would probably be the one to get blamed if some kid got hurt on something or had an allergic reaction to something (this can happen with more things then just food). It would also possibly come back to the creators of the movie which is why these things are usually pretty well regulated. So it might not be the easiest thing to do. >.<

I really like the idea of providing a few tickets for charity. I personally can say that when I was little, we didnt have money for movies, ever, the first theater movie I saw was when I was in highschool. I would have been over the moon if someone had provided tickets to any movie, even an old $1 movie just to see it in a theater. xD

[Emberly]

 I'd ask for the theater's permission, but I don't see much wrong with it. A committee for seatbelt safety was passing out Cars merchandise at the premiere of Cars 2 here. Maybe see if the theater would be okay with having a table and a staff member with the table/someone in uniform to make it look official. I would suggest a privately owned theater, not a chain of theaters, however.

[ponyqueen]

Huh! That's an idea!

[Snapdragon]

Definitely get the theatre owner's permission first or the theatre may call the police on you themselves.

Secondly, as a parent, unless it was the theatre/promo company employees  *in uniform* passing these treat bags out, I would be utterly creeped out.  A lot of parents don't pay that much attention to what their child is doing, but there would be some who would have issue with a social club of adults trying to engage children in conversation.

Maybe try this plan with a local family-based charity...  provide tickets and goodies to  kids who can't afford to attend...

I agree with LBS!

Sadly, this kind of generosity went out a few decades ago, I'm afraid; unless you know the group of kids in question, any attempt at fraternizing will be met with distrust, especially if your group is largely male, as Brony groups can be. Even though you're female, parents will look around, see a circle of dudes around you, and possibly feel uncomfortable. Sadly, there have been enough well-publicized reports of not nice people giving out 'gifts' that parents are right to be concerned, even if 9/10 times the generosity is well intentioned.

I think it's a super cute idea, and I know that you have good intentions; if nothing else, if you're considering going in costume/with lots of pony gear on, you might bring along a few small, unwrapped goodies to keep in your purse, just in case. (Nothing edible!) I've done something similar (went to an event in a pony shirt, had a little girl/her mom compliment me on it, and gave them a blind bag pony I won that day as thanks), and it worked well, because it was the kids approaching me, and not vice versa. Also, with a loose item, compared to a baggie, the parent can check at a glance if the item is safe for their kid (allergies, choking hazard etc.) instead of trying to accept a gift bag sight-unseen.

So long as the parent is watching their kid, and you make sure it's okay with them first, it can be much safer and friendlier for the kid/parent than trying to approach them. And if no one talks to you - more toys for you? xD

tl;dr I think it's really sweet of you to think of such an idea, and it sorta sounds like something I'd wanna do too! I love the idea of surprising random kids with gifts and making them happy. But sadly, it might not work out the way you planned.

[Judhudson]

I actually got to do this for the showings of EQG. 

We did contact the theater first to set it up.  I gave them pictures of the costumes, and told them my plans with the loot bag.  Needless to say, they loved it, and we were there to do all 4 showings.

Our loot bag had some trading cards, misc. blind bag figures, candy and a few other odd and ends I cannot remember.

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(my mom was the one handing out the loot bags, cause you know...ponies dont really have hands and all )

[diamondshy]

I actually got to do this for the showings of EQG. 

We did contact the theater first to set it up.  I gave them pictures of the costumes, and told them my plans with the loot bag.  Needless to say, they loved it, and we were there to do all 4 showings.

Our loot bag had some trading cards, misc. blind bag figures, candy and a few other odd and ends I cannot remember.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


(my mom was the one handing out the loot bags, cause you know...ponies dont really have hands and all )

Okay that's ridiculously adorable