Mattel faced an unexpected controversy over the weekend when it emerged that packaging for its new "Wicked" dolls mistakenly directed users to an adult website.
Instead of the intended link to the movie's official page, a web address on the packaging led customers to a pornographic site.
In response, Mattel issued an apology on Sunday, stating; “Mattel was made aware of a misprint on the packaging of the Mattel Wicked collection dolls, primarily sold in the USA, which was intended to direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com landing page,” said the statement.
“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.”
The dolls, featuring characters from the upcoming "Wicked" movie, are being pulled from major retailers across the USA, including Walmart and Amazon.
"Wicked" is set to hit cinemas on November 22 and is expected to be a major release. Directed by Jon M. Chu, the movie adaptation of the popular Broadway musical stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in lead roles as Glinda and Elphaba.
The dolls, which inadvertently feature the erroneous link, have already appeared on eBay, with prices ranging from R1,800 to R14,500, despite their original retail value of R451 to R720.
The mistake occurred due to a link to wicked.com rather than the correct wickedmovie.com.
The web address listed on the boxed dolls is wicked.com, instead of wickedmovie.com.
When clicking on the first link, a page comes up requiring users to be 18 and older. Those who click “enter” land on a porn site promoting an upcoming porn movie titled Kenzie Loves Girls 2 that’s from a company called Wicked Pictures.
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