What are they, you ask? They're described as accessories that can squish, connect, and create, and they're designed for kids 4 years old and up. "The possibilities are endless with the assorted accessories, which enable your child to add eyes, wings, and other items to bring his or her creations to life," the Toys "R" Us product description reads.
Seems innocent enough; they basically sound like a soft version of Legos, right? Well, it looks like they've quickly turned into a nightmare for parents everywhere. As The Wall Street Journal reports, children are shoving these squishy balls into their hair (as kids do). Due to the toys' sticky nature, they quickly cause a tangled disaster that involves "an elaborate hours-long extraction that can involve multiple vegetable oils, and hair conditioner, combs, crochet hooks, and even forks," according to the article.
Naturally, parents are pissed. Real pissed. And they're taking out their anger in the form of (sometimes hilarious) product reviews. Below, we rounded up some of the best mad-as-hell reactions to what we're coining Bunchemgate, for your reading pleasure. Are you one of the poor parentals whose kid stuck a bunch of these in their hair? There's an entire video dedicated to teaching you how to remove them. We can't decide what's worse, the days of bowl cuts caused by getting gum in your hair, or this new debacle. What we do know: We're relieved the only kids in our lives right now are our nieces and nephews.
First, we present to you the visuals.
me: Breegan they probably aren't able to stick in your hair
Breegan: Lemme try!
*puts like 40 bunchems in her hair* pic.twitter.com/z7DniWl1Uh
— m i r a n d a (@mirandahansenn) November 15, 2015Challenge accepted. Challenge quickly takes turn for the worse.
Apparently these "Bunchems" are known for destroying hair.
I am ordering a megapack for reasons. pic.twitter.com/D55fboFtkH
— Cheeseburger (@bvrgy) November 14, 2015Bunchems. 5 minutes of fun and 5 hours of clean up. Hair not included. #warningshouldbeasbigasboxpic.twitter.com/lViJtyH7YX
— Bonnie Brushwood (@invisiblewife) November 14, 2015here is a great example why bunchems do not go in your hair pic.twitter.com/tLFSW8Xqus
— S♡ (@sarahlogan07) November 7, 2015Next up, the reviews. Here, we have the PSA parents. [Ed note: These reviews have not been edited. People make typos when they're outraged.]
"If anyone in your house has hair with any length at all, do not buy these! They are very similar to Velcro, and mixed with even medium length hair, they create a nightmare!"—MN Mom
"Although these are fun to play with, there is a chance that these will get into hair, kids will be kids. Please watch your child when they play with this, even if this gets close to hair it seems to crab on and won't let go. Have sharp scissors."—Nothappy
"Don't! Just don't! Unless you were planing on getting your kid a pixie cut or shaving their head already, don't buy these! The package says it could entangle in hair. I told my kids not to put them in their hair. My daughter made a bracelet, then a necklace. The was trying the necklace on then the bracelet on her wrist got entangled in her hair. She slung her head around and before she knew it, the necklace was entangled in her hair, too. She wasn't trying to put them in her hair, kids are just kids and she's a little girl who loves jewelry. I couldn't get the majority of them out. The lady at the salon said it was ripping her hair and would cost me hundreds to have them work on it. So, she has a new hair do. Pretty much all of her hair gone! They just aren't even worth it."—Amazon Customer
"A Toy Spawned From the Darkest Depths of Hell: Horrible, horrible, horrible toy for kids. I just spent the last TWO AND A HALF hours (absolutley, 100 percent not an exaggeration) attempting to remove 14 of these bastard balls out of my daughter's hair. Buy this toy for someone if you hate them or their child. They are the most incredible choking hazards on the planet. They bring pain and misery, tears, fighting, broken and ripped hair, and questions of one's sanity in handling life in general. I can't feel my arms now after attempting to pull this spawn from hell 'toy' that matted itself into her hair like nothing ever witnessed before. The photo is her hair with conditioner coating the balls in what proved to be an almost fruitless effort to exract the evil. If you wish to proceed, good luck."—Ethan Benoit
"Step away from the Bunchems. Stuck in the carpet, in the dogs hair and don't even get me started on the kids hair at least I do have boys.... They are now bald thanks to these bastards! It doesn't matter how much supervision is involved we are still talking about children. These little demon spawns bring hell to your home!"—Amazon Customer
"If I had one wish it would be to throat punch the person that invented these!!! My daughter and son were so excited to get these craft balls from hell. Minutes after we got them the kids were having fun throwing them, several landed in my daughters hair. She thought it was funny that they stuck, so of course she added more. This is worse than glue, gum and taffy in the hair!!! I just spent the past two hours trying to get bunchums out of my daughters hair. Two freakin hours! I finally got to the point that I began cutting them out. Even with them out of her hair I couldn't get the cut hair out from around the craft ball from hell. I can't remember a worse product."—A. Wild
And, the parents with advice for other parents:
"Kids love playing with these. But kids will get carried away and set their new creation on their head and it's all over. The panic sets in quick when they realize it doesn't come off. They try to pull it off and all the burrs grab hold and entrench deeper into their hair. It is truly the worst toy ever. If this happens to you 1) stop the kids from pulling and get them to sit still. 2) remove the easy balls that are not yet entrenched. 3) spray each ball and surrounding hair with good detangler 4) use the end of a fine comb as a hook and pull out individual hairs from the ball. Do it one ball at a time with the ball that is farthest out. Use the comb like a trenching tool and work out a few hairs at a time. This group of balls was over three hours to get out. I came very close to cutting all her hair. Every other attempt to get them out only made it worse and wrapped the hair in deeper. Good luck...."—Brian
"Perfect gift for that child you hate. Have a 5 year old who really gets on your nerves? Then give them this and let them play with it unsupervised."—Rebecca Olesen
"DO NOT BUY! They got stuck in my daughters hair!! There is a youtube video explaining how to remove them. IT DOES NOT WORK! We tried everything. Here is how I removed them. After trial and error this was the fastest and most painless way we found. I used spray leave in conditioner on the Bunchem and surrounding area of hair to make it wet, pull the hair down off the ball with a toothpick(or sharp small object) then when half of the ball is exposed, using a long nosed pliers I wiggled the ball free from her hair. I hope this helps! Good Luck"—12345678
Lastly, we leave you with some more visuals.
You live and you learn, we suppose.
We're gonna take a wild guess and say this guy has since shaven off that beard of his.
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