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The Economist Outs Paw Patrol As Gender-Normative Pro-Police Propaganda

Brett T.
Brett T.  |  11:00 PM on August 12, 2026

The Economist is way late to this story. Back in 2020, we published a piece about a criminology professor named Liam Kennedy who claimed on Canadian state TV that the kids' show Paw Patrol was problematic: "I just think that as time goes on, children might be less likely to critique the capitalist system that causes environmental harm in the first place and reproduces inequality,” Kennedy said.

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A few months later, The New York Times published a piece on Paw Patrol (remember, this was 2020, the height of Woke 1, which was crazy) arguing that a backlash was mounting against the portrayal of "good cops," like the lead puppy in Paw Patrol.

It's six years later; Paw Patrol is still on the air and as popular as ever with the kids, and The Economist is taking a look at the "dark underbelly" of Paw Patrol.

We'll bet whoever wrote this consulted at least one university professor. Let's take a look:

Of the core gang of six pups, some critics note, only one is a girl, whose outfit and even eyes are pink. Worse, the top dog, Chase, is a police pup, so the whole thing is pro-police “copaganda”. Actually, since the patrol are unaccountable freelancers to whom a ditzy mayor defers, it is a sly advert for privatised state services. (Their funds come from merchandising, runs a winking joke—which may grate with those forking out for it.)

In short, fulminated a Guardian commentator, “Paw Patrol” is “authoritarian neoliberal propaganda”. An academic reckoned it “encourages complicity in a global capitalist system that (re)produces inequalities”. Rallying to the show’s defence, a former White House spokesperson wrongly claimed it had been cancelled. It is very tempting to dismiss the whole debate as killjoy hogwash and culture-war lunacy.

…

Tempting, but mistaken. It isn’t only that. There is, after all, a reason dictators try to control the stories told to the young. “Give me the child until he is seven”, the Jesuits’ founder supposedly said, “and I will show you the man.” Books, films and, yes, cartoons impart values and lessons. A sensation like “Paw Patrol” is doing a lot of imparting, and evidently resonating with youngsters everywhere. The takeaways of a critical theorist, however, may not be those of a four-year-old unfamiliar with Ayn Rand.

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Brett T.
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So the (anonymous) author cites not only an academic but also a Guardian columnist.

Wow, from 2018, even before the George Floyd riots.

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No one took credit for it. Even if it is satire, it's bad satire and doesn't deserve to be published anywhere.

At least the criminology professor talked about how the show made children comfortable with capitalism … The Economist should have tracked him down for its piece.

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