Mattel has had to apologize for a major error on the packaging for their line of dolls from the upcoming movie version of Wicked, after concerned customers discovered that a website listed on them directed people not to a site for the film but to a similarly titled porn page.
Oops.
This could prove to be a costly error. The Wicked film looks to be one of the biggest movies of the fall — and the line of toys could be a hot item this holiday season after kids see the film, which is about the relationship between Glinda the Good Witch (Ariana Grande) and the Wicked Witch of the West (Cynthia Erivo) in the years prior to the events of The Wizard of Oz. There have been reports online that the items are already being pulled from store shelves. The products were widely available on Target and Amazon’s website as of a few days ago, but all appear to be taken down as of this writing.
Anecdotally, my daughter received one of the Wicked dolls for her birthday last week and after news broke, I checked the discarded packaging to see what it said. Sure enough the website listed there takes you not to an official site for the film but to a porn site of a very similar name. (I had to investigate for journalism purposes, you see.)
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Here was Mattel’s statement on the issue…
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. 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.
Wicked opens in theaters on November 22. And just for the record, the official website for the movie is WickedMovie.com. Make sure you put movie in there. If you don’t, something else might be defying gravity.
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