More ‘Wicked’ Movie Woes: Mattel Promoting Wicked Porn Site?
Mattel has apologized after some of its new dolls from the film “Wicked” had a link to a pornographic website. The doll packaging included a web link that directs web surfers to an adult film site also named “Wicked,” a pornographic website for a studio known as Wicked Pictures, which shares the same name as the upcoming movie musical starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
Customers who discovered the error posted pics of the toy boxes on social media, and speculation quickly grew from this being an inadvertent mistake by an employee, to intentional sabotage from disgruntled employees, leading to the famed toymaker facing widespread criticism for failing to take adequate responsibility.
Image of the misprinted “Wicked” doll boxes. via Sarah Genao/@just2goodMattel has apologized for the boxes, describing the link as a “misprint.”
“Mattel was made aware of a misprint on the packaging of the Mattel Wicked collection dolls, primarily sold in the U.S., which intended to direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com landing page. We deeply regret this unfortunate error and are taking immediate action to remedy this,” the toy company said in a statement.
“Parents are advised that the misprinted, incorrect website is not appropriate for children. Consumers who already have the product are advised to discard the product packaging or obscure the link and may contact Mattel Customer Service for further information,” the company added.
Target, Walmart and Amazon had removed the line of “Wicked” dolls from their online storefronts as of midday Monday, as had Best Buy, Barnes & Noble and Macy’s. Mattel could see its revenue severely impacted by the cost of removing the dolls.
See Also: Toxic ‘Wicked’ Actress Bizarrely Triggered Over Fan-Edited Poster
This is only the latest scandal involving the movie. Last month, star Cynthia Erivo was triggered by a fan poster that was made to more closely resemble the original Broadway poster. Her bizarre overreaction to the fan poster backfired tremendously, causing many long time fans to lose interest in the movie altogether.
Wicked promoted porn … using the likeness of Cyntia Erivo!?
The movie, which was also plagued with production delays, comes out in theaters on November 22.
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Karina Smitt
I'm not as much of a "CoMiCs NeEd MoAr DiVeRsItY & iNcLuSiOn" advocate as my girlfriend often is, but we both love funny books, crispy bacon, straight bourbon and hip hop. Add yet, we never vote the same, so we cancel each other out... and that works perfectly in my book!
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