Don’t be offended by our frank analysis, but the latest viral moment of the day is kind of a big oops. Wicked is all about going on an intense journey of self-discovery, but some fans may have been about to discover just a little bit more than they bargained for through their love of Wicked. On the back of Mattel’s latest line of Wicked fashion dolls, a misprinted link on the packaging sent folks to a porn site instead of Wicked the movie’s website, as no doubt intended. Alas, on the back of the Wicked dolls’ boxes, the following URL appeared, “www.wicked.com.” And though we won’t link to it as the dolls did, that friends, is absolutely a porn site and not a site intended to promote the Wicked movie. (Although if it had been, that would have been a marketing stunt of great audacity.)
We just hope no one was changed for good by accidentally typing in the porn site URL provided to them by the Wicked dolls. Of course, in the age of the internet, a juicy mistake is often discovered quickly and cannot persist for very long. Mattel has already ordered a recall of the Wicked dolls with the mistaken copy and shared the following statement:
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.
In the meanwhile, these porn-site Wicked dolls have become something of a collector’s item overnight. Hey, they are an Internet Item of the Moment TM, after all. They may be difficult to get at this point, but reports from fans indicate some Targets and other stores may still have them on the shelves. If you want to be part of the joke, you can try your luck on the shelves.
But ultimately, the true winners are the purveyors of wicked.com, who have seen their Google searches surge to a 12-year record high thanks to this mix-up. We guess sometimes it’s good to be wicked. And, while this might not be the kind of press Mattel wanted for its Wicked dolls, it feels fair to say, they are getting more attention thanks to this URL mix-up than they might have otherwise. Honestly, we’re just crossing our fingers that AI was at fault for this snafu. That would be iconic.
Mattel Has Been Sued Over Wicked Dolls Porn Website Link
Alas, though, in the latest development for these Wicked dolls someone has taken this innocuous mistake a bit too far. Mattel is actually being sued over the mistaken link to the porn website. Variety reports that a South Carolina woman is putting together a class action lawsuit against Mattel noting that her young daughter visited the adult website and found the site had “nothing to do with the ‘Wicked’ doll.” Evidentally this caused mother and child “emotional distress.”
According to the lawsuit, the website on the box of the Wicked dolls revealed “scenes [that] were hardcore, full on nude pornographic images depicting actual intercourse. Plaintiff’s minor daughter immediately showed her mother the photographs and both were horrified by what they saw. If plaintiff had been aware of such an inappropriate defect in the product, she would not have purchased it.”
Mattel did not comment on the lawsuit over the Wicked dolls and their porn site link directly, saying, “The Wicked Dolls have returned for sale with correct packaging at retailers online and in stores to meet the strong consumer demand for the products. The previous misprint on the packaging in no way impacts the value or play experience provided by the product itself in the limited number of units sold before the correction.”
However, Universal’s chief marketing officer Michael Moses noted that the controversy did not seem to really impact ticket sales for Wicked. He noted, “I don’t think that all press is good press. I always categorize incidents between what might actually damage the desire to see the movie and what might not,” he said. “I think that was an example of one that’s an anecdote more than a threat.” We might tend to agree.
Wicked (the non-porn version) released on November 22, and the non-misprinted versions of the Wicked dolls are available now.
