ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 18, 1995 TAG: 9512180102
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAROLYN McMILLAN KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
Nine-year-old John Slovacek is trying to keep a lid on his anger.
The Lafayette, Calif., fourth-grader has dropped plans to sue toy manufacturer Parker Brothers and is now simply planning a boycott.
Why? Parker Brothers, perhaps trying to tap into kids' fascination for all that is repulsive, has come out with a new ``electronic flush and burp'' game. Its name: ``Big John.''
That's an insult to Johns everywhere, the lad says.
The new game features a face shaped like a toilet. Players throw green ``scuzzies'' into the bowl, pull the toilet handle and are rewarded with computer-generated flushing sounds. The object: get rid of all your scuzzies before ``Big John'' explodes.
In a letter he sent Friday to Parker Brothers president Robert Wann at the company's Massachusetts headquarters, John said he'd never been so mad in his life.
``I don't like your game, `Big John,' because my name is John, and it is an insult to call me a toilet,'' John writes. ``Not only are we going to boycott your products, we will tell our parents and relatives, in addition to any adults we see in toy stores, to do the same.''
The letter was signed by 82 children.
John's mother, Sue Slovacek, says that her son has been toting a clipboard to school at Happy Valley Elementary since Dec. 1 and getting signatures for his boycott during recess.
``He came to us originally wanting to sue them for using his name,'' she said. ``We said maybe writing a letter would be better.''
Parker Brothers representatives could not be reached for an immediate comment.
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