Mommy, what's Viagra?

When my daughter was younger she loved to play those claw machines in which you try to snag stuffed animals with a claw that's so weak it almost can't pick up anything. The machines are real moneymakers for the owners, though she was successful often enough to keep at it. When we visited the arcade area at Excalibur in Las Vegas over the years, her version of gambling was those machines and she'd usually come away with a number of cheap stuffed critters (though if you added up how many quarters it took to win, they were the most expensive stuff animals ever).

Some kids in Chicago got a little extra surprise when they managed to grab a bear in a machine at an Red Robin restaurant:

The Red Robin restaurant chain is taking action after a Twin Cities family won a bear with an ad for Viagra at one of its restaurants.

Joe Kelner, 11, won a bear while playing the claw machine at the Red Robin in Shoreview.

Joe's parents thought it was inappropriate and complained to restaurant employees.

"It's important for parents to know that there are maybe inappropriate toys in these vending machines that you think are safe," Lori Kelner said.

Red Robin says the bears were supplied by a local vendor from New York as part of a Nascar package promoting its sponsors.

Somebody at the marketing company goofed on that one. I always wondered about the wisdom of having Viagra as a principle sponsor, which they were for several years on Mark Martin's Rousch Racing Ford. I've got to believe their merchandise sales suffered because men weren't too excited about buying shirts, hats, jackets, etc. with the Viagra name on them.