Mattel, the maker of Barbie dolls, recently made a rather huge blunder when they mistakenly printed a link to a pornographic website instead of the web page for the upcoming movie on the packaging of their new series of ‘Wicked’ dolls.
The film version of the hit Broadway and West End musical features British actress Cynthia Erivo and US pop star Ariana Grande as witches Elphaba and Glinda.
Released by Mattel, the packaging for dolls of the characters featured a web address to a porn site which shares the same name as the film.
The URL leads to a landing page with a warning that further access is restricted to adults over the age of 18, with the message “The following website, including all webpages, links, images and videos, displays sexually oriented, including explicit, material of pornographic nature”.
In a statement, the toy company said “Mattel was aware of a misprint on the packaging of the Mattel Wicked collection dolls, primarily sold in the United States, which was 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 inappropriate 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 is coming to cinemas this 22 November, with part 2 scheduled for 2025.
