Stills from the movie “The Bad”
Source: Universal Studios
Thousands Mattel’s “Wicked” brand fashion dolls are rapidly flying off the shelves, but not because of consumer demand.
The toy company has been forced to pull its line of character dolls from shelves due to a printing error on the packaging. instead of listing the website Universal The box of the “Wicked” movie had a link to a pornographic website from a group called “Wicked Pictures.”
“Mattel has discovered a typographical error on the packaging of Mattel’s Wicked dolls sold primarily in the United States, which was designed to direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com landing page,” Mattel said in a statement. “We We deeply regret this unfortunate error and are taking immediate action to correct the issue. Parents are advised that the typographically incorrect website is not suitable for children. Consumers who already own the product are advised to discard the product packaging or cover the link. And possibly please contact Mattel Customer Service for more information.
Target, Walmart and Amazon As of midday Monday, the company had removed the “Wicked” line of dolls from its online store, as it had previously best buyBarnes & Noble and macy’s department store. This product is also sold in Kohl’s and retailers such as DSW. Some sites were still taking action on listings throughout the day Monday.
It’s unclear whether Mattel will reprint the packaging or provide stickers to retailers to cover the incorrect website domain. Mattel did not respond to CNBC’s request for additional comment after providing its initial statement.
“Like any industry, mistakes can and do happen in the toy industry,” said James Zahn, editor-in-chief of The Toy Book. “This may have been an innocent oversight that resulted in a normal process. Most consumers – whether children or adults – will never read the fine print on packaging, and ultimately, packaging is designed to end up in the marketplace with children. The chances of reading the back of a doll box and being inclined to go online and visit this website are very slim.
The incident comes as Universal Pictures’ retail shelves are flooded with “Wicked”-related products ahead of the movie’s Nov. 22 release. The green-pink connection is expected to give retail sales a big boost during the crucial holiday period.
However, Mattel’s revenue could be affected by the cost of removing the dolls.
“I think the impact depends on the resolution, but we don’t know yet,” said Morningstar analyst Jamie Katz.
“The big winners in the short term are resellers,” Zahn noted, as the chaos sparked a frenzy of hype this weekend as retail shelves were quickly occupied by those looking to make a quick buck by selling on eBay or Facebook Marketplace. Opportunists clear out.
There are already dozens of Mattel misprinted dolls on eBay, selling for between $40 and $2,100. The dolls retail for between $20 and $40, depending on the character and costume.
Revealed: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is the distributor of “Wicked.”
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