An Imagined Conversation

"And the design for the new Power Wheels racer is here... VOILA!"

"..."

"Nice, huh? Focus groups really liked the green, but I thought hot orange would've been the favorite."

"Is... is that a wheelchair?"

"No, this is the new Power Wheels Wild Thing! It says right there on the box."

"Trent, it looks an awful lot like a wheelchair. Do we want kids who aren't disabled to play with a wheelchair?"

"Uh... maybe we got off on the wrong foot here, Bart. This was the winning design according to research. And none of the research groups brought up the fact that this resembled in any way a conveyance for the disabled. Nope."

"I see. Now, is there any way to make this not look so much like a wheelchair?"

"You're not hearing me. No one that we showed this design to thought it looked like a wheelchair. I believe maybe your imagination is working a little hard right now ha ha, right Nancy?"

"Keep me the fuck out of this, Trent."

"Look, Trent. We spent an awful lot of money developing and researching the next Power Wheels Wild Thing."

"I know."

"And the last thing we need is to roll out a product to market that looks absolutely like a wheelchair."

"Okay. You may be right about it looking like a wheelchair after all, Bart. But maybe that isn't a bad thing. Maybe this is a sly way to show people that being disabled isn't something to be ignored or ashamed of. Maybe this is a way for kids to learn to have more empathy for people who are differently abled. And maybe... just maybe this could be the product that brings our company to the forefront of a conversation that our society has ignored for too long: how to empower the disabled so that everyone can contribute to and enjoy society on an equal approach to ability/disability."

"Wow. You made that up on the spot, didn't you?"

"TOTALLY! Pretty good, huh? Okay, we'll scrap this and start over, Bart."