Mattel is being sued by a mother who said her child accessed a porn website due to the link being printed on the packaging of toys based on the Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo-starring Wicked.
The toy company apologized in November for what it called an “unfortunate error,” when it printed a link to a porn website on the toys’ packaging. The official film website is WickedMovie.com, but the website listed on the packaging mistakenly leaves out the “movie” part of the URL.
As reported by Sky News, Mattel is now being sued by Holly Ricketson from South Carolina who claimed she gave the doll to her daughter, who then visited the porn website via the advertised link. Her child allegedly showed her photos from the website and both claimed to be “horrified.”
The lawsuit states the porn website printing was an “inexcusable error” on Mattel’s part and that Ricketson wouldn’t have bought the doll if she’d known about it. It also claims Mattel has not offered a refund.
“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,” Mattel said in November.
“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.”
Wicked arrived November 22 as the first part of an adaptation of the beloved stage play. It debuted to strong box office numbers, pulling in an enormous $164.2 million globally in its opening weekend.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
