Mattel cannot find enough ways to apologize to consumers after someone placed a link to a porn site on the packaging of some of its dolls for the movie Wicked. The toy giant had to implement major damage control to avoid getting rid of the consequences of this catastrophic mistake.
On the subject, Mattel issued a statement on Sunday acknowledging the error: “Mattel became aware of a printing error on the packaging of the Mattel Wicked doll collection, sold primarily in the US, which was intended to direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com homepage.
“We sincerely apologize for this unfortunate error and we are taking immediate action to rectify it. Parents are warned that the incorrect and misprinted website is not appropriate for children. Consumers who already have the product are advised to discard the product packaging or hide the link and to contact Mattel customer service for more information.”
Mattel’s terrible mistake in packaging its dolls
The problem arose over the weekend after some buyers of the doll began sharing images on their social networks with the packaging of the dolls showing a link to Wicked.com, a porn site, instead of Wickedmovie.com.
The wrong link, identified as Not Safe For Work (NSFW) was printed on the boxes of the dolls Glinda and Elphaba, the main characters of Wicked, who were played in the film adaptation by pop star Ariana Grande and Oscar-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo respectively.
A bad move for Ariana Grande’s career
The dolls with the disastrous error were sold in Target, Kohl’s and also on Amazon. Unsold batches were quickly pulled from the shelves. Unfortunately for the toy conglomerate and the film’s production, this scandal occurred just days before the film’s release, scheduled for November 22, 2024, and features a cast that also includes Ethan Slater, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Bowen Yang and Peter Dinklage.
In fact, because filming began in December 2022, Ariana Grande is currently dating her co-star, Ethan Slater. Filming began while she was still married to her now ex-husband, 29-year-old real estate agent Dalton Gomez.
Days later, rumors began to surface of a possible romance with Slater, a relationship that supposedly began after he split from his high school sweetheart Lilly Jay, whom he was married to for four years. The separation prompted Jay to begin ranting against her ex-husband, with whom she had a child.
Jay said at the time: “Grande’s story, really. It’s not the story of a little girl. My family is just collateral damage”.
On this subject, Ariana also had to go to the media to clarify her new romance: “No one in this world goes more out of their way or works harder to be there for the people they love and care about. There is no one in this world with a better heart, and that’s something no shitty tabloid can rewrite in real life.”
In October, Slater also came out to clarify the details of his new relationship in an interview with GQ magazine: “There were a lot of major changes going on in private life. It’s very difficult to see people who don’t know anything about what’s going on commenting, speculating and then getting it wrong about the people you love.”
And he added: “But of course it was an incredible year and something really beautiful, and I’m really excited.”