Blue Peter is (was?) a very popular children's TV programme in which current topics were explained in a manner so that children could understand them, as well as showing the children how to make toys and things will ordinary household objects.

This is a long-running children's programme on TV. It contains general interest items, not news but features to get children interested in various activities (e.g. visits by various people talking about their jobs, the presenters themselves make trips to places of interest) and also they show children how to make things at home from bits of everyday household items (e.g. toilet rolls and, most famously, stickyback plastic!) I think the point here is that "Play" is considered very UNsexy! The presenters have notoriously squeaky-clean images (apart from one former presenter who immediately had to leave after it became known he had been taking drugs...)

I am not 100% sure what they mean but I imagine they are simply referring to the children's programme, Blue Peter - which I watched myself when I was young! They were foreover showing you how to make toys, model houses, planes etc. with bits and pieces you could find at home (washing up bottles, empty yoghurt pots and the old favourite, sticky-backed plastic!).

It is (or was) viewed by some as quite a portaying middle-class, 'safe', traditional, wholesome values.

Just how that links up to the products in your text is not quite clear to me however!

HTH


Sheila

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/bluepeter/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Peter

Blue Peter is a popular, long-running BBC television programme for children. It is named after the flag hoisted by ships in port when they are ready to sail.

The theme tune, in recognition of the origin of the title, is a sea shanty called Barnacle Bill, and the programme's motif is a stylised sailing ship, based on an original design by Tony Hart.


The programme, devised by John Hunter Blair and edited for many years by Biddy Baxter, was first shown in October 16, 1958, the original presenters being Christopher Trace and Leila Williams. ***The format consisted mainly of the two presenters demonstrating how to make toys and useful household objects, with the male presenter concentrating on traditional "boys'" toys such as model aeroplanes, and the female restricting herself to domestic tasks, such as cookery.***

Over the years the programme changed to reflect the times. Originally it was a 15-minute weekly programme; currently it is 25 minutes and is shown three times a week on BBC One, with two more programmes (mainly comprising previously-broadcast material) each week on the CBBC Channel. The 4000th edition was broadcast on 14 March 2005. Most episodes are still broadcast live.


http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/bluepeter/bluepete...


Blue Peter is one of British television's longest running programmes, regularly reaching 5-6 million children and teenagers. It takes its name from the blue and white flag hoisted by a ship leaving port on a voyage. The originator of the programme wanted this to suggest the voyage of discovery that it would provide for its young viewers. The programming has a magazine format that involves a combination of studio presentation, interview, and demonstration with additional film report items. It is transmitted live from the BBC's Television Centre after hectic rehearsal. The programme was launched with its catchy "Barnacle Bill" signature tune in 1958 as a fifteen-minute slot, involving two presenters, described by Barnes and Baxter as "Chris Trace playing with trains and Lelia Williams playing with dolls." It became a twice-weekly, 30-minute programme in 1963.

***Today's presenters follow in a long line of enthusiastic personalities who have played no small part in shaping the views of generations of viewers. Critics of the programme suggest that Blue Peter's format, content and presentation epitomise a "safe" agenda of middle-class attitudes, is patronising towards young people, and replicates a dominant ideology.*** The programme's own audience research would suggest that on the whole its target audience do not feel patronised. Given the centrality of Blue Peter to its scheduling area, it is not surprising that it tends to reflect the values and aspirations of the institution from which it originates. It is more accurate to see Blue Peter as a barometer of social values and cultural change in Britain over the extended period of its existence.

I wonder if this is referring to the "innocence" of the name "Play" which also invites a desire to explore and find out more (based on what Blue Peter was all about, and what sex-toys are all about).