Mattel Apologizes After It Ships ‘Wicked’ Barbie Dolls With a Porn Link

Toy shaper Mattel is apologizing aft sending retired a tally of Wicked branded toys with a nexus to a porn website connected the box. When Mattel learned astir the problem, it pulled the dolls from retail shelves and issued an apology.

Mattel printed the URL for the incorrect website connected the boxes of singing dolls meant for enraptured children and big collectors. You spot the movie’s website is wickedmovie.com. But Mattel printed wicked.com. The archetypal tract lets you bargain tickets and ticker trailers. The 2nd links to girl-on-girl action. And though Wicked is simply a communicative astir the astonishing narration betwixt 2 women astatine university, it’s not that benignant of story.

Mattel assured consumers that Glinda and Elphaba are not that girl.

“Mattel was made alert of a misprint connected the packaging of the Mattel Wicked postulation dolls, chiefly sold successful the U.S., which intended to nonstop consumers to the authoritative WickedMovie.com landing page,” it said successful a statement. “We profoundly regret this unfortunate mistake and are taking contiguous enactment to remedy this. Parents are advised that the misprinted, incorrect website is not due for children.”

Starring popular prima Ariana Grande, Wicked is simply a philharmonic adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. It hits theaters connected November 22 and Hollywood expects it to beryllium a large hit. First a caller and past a deed Broadway play, Wicked tells the root communicative of the Wicked Witch of the West.

In anticipation of a family-friendly container bureau smash, Mattel and others person produced a batch of merchandise for the film. The porn-linking toys were singing Glinda and Elphaba dolls. Retailers specified arsenic Target and Walmart person already delisted the artifact from their online databases, but pictures of them inactive beryllium connected eBay.

It’s a tiny error. The URL is printed conscionable supra the barcode connected the backmost of the container connected the bottommost right. This benignant of happening is simply a boon for aftermarket collectors. This benignant of misprint, with its salacious communicative and elemental method of verification, volition make a marketplace for the misprint. Wicked heads volition request to get clasp of the porno-URL container to implicit their collection. Listings connected eBay for the dolls alteration wildly close now. A acceptable of the deluxe models of the dolls with the misprint container is listed astatine conscionable nether $2,000.

How did this happen? We’ll ne'er cognize and Mattel doesn’t person to archer us. But printing wicked.com alternatively of wickedmovie.com connected a container is simply a beauteous casual mistake to make. It’s the benignant of happening that happens erstwhile a institution isn’t doing its owed diligence and triple-checking its enactment earlier sending it to the consumer.

Over the Summer, it announced that it had started utilizing generative AI successful its container designing process. It astir apt won’t assistance the toymaker debar mistakes similar this. And if it thinks it’ll marque their boxes nicer they whitethorn arsenic good try defying gravity.