A scene from the movie “The Villain”
Source: Universal Studios
Thousands of Mattel “Wicked” brand fashion dolls are flying off the shelves, but not because of consumer demand.
The toy company was forced to recall its line of character dolls after a typo in the packaging. Instead of listing the website of worldwide In the movie “Wicked”, the boxes featured a link to a porn site by a group called Wicked Pictures.
“Mattel has been made aware of a typographical error on the packaging of the Mattel Wicked Collection dolls, primarily sold in the United States, that was intended to direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com home page,” Mattel said in a statement. “We deeply regret this unfortunate error and are taking immediate action to address the matter. Parents are advised that the misprinted website is not suitable for children. Consumers who already have the product are advised to discard the product packaging or block the link and are entitled to contact Mattel Customer Service For more information.”
goal, Walmart and Amazon It removed the “evil” doll range from its online storefronts as of midday Monday, as it did so Best buyBarnes & Noble and Messi. Products were also sold in Cole and DSW, among other retailers. Some sites were still taking action on listings throughout Monday.
It's not clear whether Mattel will reprint packages or provide retailers with stickers to cover the incorrect website scope. Mattel did not respond to CNBC's request for additional comment after providing its initial statement.
“Like any business, mistakes can and do happen in the toy industry,” said James Zahn, editor-in-chief of The Toy Book. “This was likely an innocent oversight that made it past normal processes. Most consumers – children and adults alike – would never read the fine print on the packaging, and at the end of the day, the packaging is designed so that the odds of a child reading the part end up being “The back of the doll's box and his tendency to go online and visit the website is minimal.”
The unfortunate incident comes as Universal floods retail shelves with “Wicked”-related products ahead of the film's November 22 release. The barrage of green and pink is expected to bring a major boost to the retail industry just in time for the crucial holiday period.
However, Mattel's revenue may be affected by the cost of removing the dolls.
“I think the impact depends on the decision, which we don't know yet,” said Jamie Katz, an analyst at Morningstar.
“The big winners in the short term are the resellers,” Zahn noted, “and the buzz sparked a frenzy this weekend as retail shelves were quickly emptied by opportunists looking to make a quick profit by selling on eBay or Facebook Marketplace.” .
Dozens of Mattel dolls in misprinted packaging are already available on eBay for prices ranging from $40 to $2,100. The dolls sold for between $20 and $40 depending on the character and costume.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is the distributor of “Wicked.”
