These toys may have been inspired by Instagram antics, but they are firmly rooted in the real world.
WeVeel — a manufacturer and distributor of party, stationery, craft, and toy products — is taking advantage of the age of the influencer by launching The Influencer Initiative, a product design collective with today’s top social media influencers that creates innovative toys and gives back to communities. The first collaborators are creators Along Came Abby and Boss Baby Brody, each with more than 385,000 and 632,000 Instagram followers, respectively, and over 3 million TikTok followers.
Abby Terry, 6, who goes by Along Came Abby online, is a storyteller and her videos have been featured on The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, E! News, Barstool Sports, and more. Brody Schaffer, 7, otherwise known as Boss Baby Brody, is a skilled dancer and has been featured on the Hallmark Channel and NFL Halftime shows, among appearances with Reese Witherspoon, Matthew McConaughey, and Scarlett Johansson.
“We’re focusing on creating cool new formats that build on gross and fine motor skill building, self-care, confidence building, self-empowerment, non-gender conformity, and screen-free play,” says WeVeel CEO Valerie Marderosian.
Brody’s pieces include the Hooray for Me ABC’s dough activity set, the Doughbot wooden learn to count activity set, the Space Rocket Speller, and the Express Dough Self activity set. Abby’s items include Donut Get Stuck with a Butt, an Old Maid card game; Silly Sentences, a learn to make sentences card game; the Let’s Count activity set; and Abby’s Magical House wooden playset.
Intended for kids ages 3-8, the Influencer Initiative launch collection includes 10 toys and, for every product sold, the initiative will donate 10% of the profits to a qualified nonprofit organization, including, but not limited to, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, The Hunger Project, and the National Dance Institute. Items are available for purchase beginning Nov. 1.
