Movies
The site has an address similar to one promoting a film adaptation of the hit musical. The toymaker apologized for the “unfortunate error.”
FILE – Cynthia Erivo, left, and Ariana Grande arrive at the premiere of “Wicked” on November 9, 2024, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, file
All may be well in the land of Oz, but the same can’t be said for the world of Mattel.
The toy company’s latest dolls for the movie “Wicked” listed a pornographic website on their packaging instead of a very similar URL that promoted an upcoming film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical.
Mattel, the maker of Barbie and Hot Wheels, said in a statement Sunday that it was aware of a “printing error” on the box for the dolls, which are sold primarily in the United States. The company said it intended to direct consumers to the movie’s landing page, not a URL to a website restricted to people 18 and older.
The doll is intended for children aged 4 and over.
Mattel expressed deep regret, blamed the confusion on an “unfortunate error” and pledged to take “immediate action.” But the company did not say how the error occurred or what action it plans to take.
It was not immediately clear Monday morning how many mislabeled boxes had been distributed to stores. Mattel had not announced a recall or offered refunds to affected customers.
The film, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, is set to be released on November 22. Universal Pictures, its distributor, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mattel is not the first company or public figure to publicly confuse one URL with another.
Last week, Pope Francis appeared to portray himself as a New Orleans Saints fan by repeatedly using a hashtag referring to the football team, not the revered followers of the Roman Catholic Church.
“We cannot become #Saints by frowning,” he wrote. “We must have a joyful heart to remain open to hope. »
When the Saints beat the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, snapping a seven-game losing streak, some of their fans saw the victory as divine providence.
The worlds of politics and media have also seen their share of URL leaks.
In 2019, an Italian cartoonist known as Albo, whose work includes erotic images, said on Twitter that hundreds of people had mistaken him for Anthony Albanese, an Australian politician who was campaigning to become leader of the Country Labor Party.
Albanese won those elections and is now prime minister. But it is still sometimes confused with Albo.
In April, for example, Australian Broadcasting Corp. presenter Michael Rowland apologized after mistakenly attributing a comment about Elon Musk to the artist rather than Albanese.
This article was originally published in The New York Times.
