Suddenly one the world’s most famous low-tech devices has gained renewed publicity. The Etch A Sketch.
WeathersIt came about as an off-the-cuff comment from Mitt Romney strategist Eric Fehrnstrom. In March he was asked about the candidate’s?politics now versus next fall. He likened the Republican’s campaign to an?Etch?A?Sketch: “You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again.”
If, somehow, you didn’t know, the Etch A Sketch is a little red-framed screen that allows kids (and adults) to draw objects by twisting two white knobs. A quick shake, the screen is erased, and the player starts over.
Democratic pundits and Romney’s Republican opponents seized upon the comment and claimed it confirmed that Romney was wishy-washy, willing to change his positions on anything to meet the mood of the moment. Just erase and start over. Rick Santorum brandished an?Etch?A?Sketch?and told voters he is a candidate who stands “firmly on the rocks of freedom, not on the sands of an?Etch?A?Sketch?toy,” as his supporters gave out miniatures of the toy to reporters. Ohio Art, maker of the classic toy, sent a box of?Etch?A?Sketches?to the presidential campaigns to say thanks for the publicity.
Not as if the Etch A Sketch was hurting for sales. In fact, Ohio Art never advertises it. It sells so well they don’t need to. The free advertising, such as with the campaign, is all they need. Ever seen a “Toy Story” movie? “Elf”? You get the idea.
Why would such a simple device still claim such popularity in our high-tech age? Probably because of what it represents. Shake it up, erase, start over. Woven into our DNA since the fall of Adam is the yearning for a do-over. A second chance. But even more, a new start without the old lines of our failed sinful life still outlining our every move, reminding us of our past failures.
Enter the cross. The King. The empty tomb. What we could never accomplish on our own, Christ did for us. Accept, erase, start over. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (1 Corinthians 5:17).