Tag: shopping

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Fashion shopping Toys

Designer clothing for Labubus is a booming business

designer-clothing-for-labubus-is-a-booming-business

Screenshot from YouTube/Sydney Morgan


A very brief recap of the summer: Labubus are everywhere, I’m not a fan. I nearly got myself in trouble at work the other day when I scurried to a friend’s office to exclaim that another colleague had a Labubu on her bag. The only hitch was, my friend’s office is opposite the ladies room, and the Labubu-bearing coworker happened to be using the facilities. I somehow managed to save it, though! I’d only said the woman’s name Labubu, at which point my friend furiously began signaling to me that this coworker was in the bathroom, at which point she came out of the bathroom and I excitedly said, “Hey, can we see your Labubu?!” feigning enthusiasm. Some will say the moral of this story is don’t gossip; I say the lesson is don’t fall prey to the Labubu takeover!!!

But as usual, I’m woefully behind in my attempts to steer pop culture. Not content to have wormed their way onto adorning expensive designer handbags, now Labubus have spawned a sub-fad: miniature designer clothing for the creatures to wear. Yahoo has a Vogue-worthy deep dive on the booming business:

Human clothing out, Labubu duds in: At PopMoco, which is based in Jiangmen City, China, and sells couture-inspired outfits for Labubu dolls, designer Jasmine Zhu estimates that almost 10,000 handmade Labubu outfits sell each month, with the most popular styles being “dupes” of Louis Vuitton and Chanel runway looks. “I hear all the time that my customers’ Labubu has a bigger wardrobe than they do!” she tells Yahoo, noting that one repeat buyer in Dubai “bought six custom yoga outfits” for his doll.

Demand is so great sewing grannies were called in! Jennie Lo hears similar stories from her customers at Lizzie & Friends. … After hand-making tiny plaid skirts and blazers in the first month, Lo tells Yahoo, “the demand was too much. I couldn’t make them all. So I hired some grannies I know in Hong Kong who like to sew. Now they get together and make them while they hang out.”

YouTuber Sydney Morgan garnered 100M views for Labubu fashion content: “I’ve already spent over $700 on my Labubus’ wardrobes,” said Morgan, who owns bitty Birkin-like leather bags, Dr. Martens-inspired boots and even tiny acrylic nails for the creatures, which she keeps displayed on a large bookshelf in her California film studio. “For someone not to put [Labubus] on a runway during Fashion Week would be a serious missed opportunity. We’d all want real designer Labubu clothes.”

A boon amid uncertain times: [Marko Monroe] began creating Labubu couture in January as creative work dried up due to tariff fears, and later, the L.A. wildfires. “The industry got really slow for all of us,” the L.A.-based artist tells Yahoo. “At the same time, my partner, Hunter, came home with a Labubu. I said, ‘What is that?’ And I got inspired.” Word spread via Instagram, and soon Monroe’s celebrity clientele and their fans began placing custom orders. “They want owl and deer costumes. They want tiny Marc Jacobs handbags. Everyone’s just looking for a little bit more joy in their lives. And it’s given me back some joy too. They’re actually really fun to make!” he says.

Even Netflix tapped Monroe for custom Labubu designs: This month, Monroe created custom Labubus for Jenna Ortega and Catherine Zeta-Jones; they were commissioned by Netflix as premiere gifts for Wednesday Season 2 and dressed in mini-versions of Colleen Atwood’s Emmy-winning costumes, including an itty Cousin Itt made with a 3D printer. “I know this trend won’t last forever,” says Monroe. “But right now, it’s definitely helped my business pick back up. It’s also a little like pop art — people can’t own a Chanel bag. But they can own a Labubu bag. To me, that’s very cool.”

[From Yahoo]

Is itty-bitty doll clothing cute? I had too many Barbie outfits as a child to deny the veracity of that statement. Elsewhere in Yahoo’s article, they touched more on the wish fulfillment angle of this craze; the idea that it’s a way for people to enjoy luxury items they can’t afford for themselves. But it’s still a lot of money for doll clothing! It was touching, though, to hear from all the many artists about how this work is saving them creatively and financially. I just hope they’re all as aware as Marko Monroe is that the bubble will burst someday, and are putting some of that money away into savings. Marko, by the way, is the artist who was commissioned (though by whom remains unknown) to create the custom Labubu for Lady Gaga, which I’m henceforth referring to as the LaGagu™, and which is still living its best life on her Hermès Kelly purse.

photos via Instagram and screenshot from YouTube/Sydney Morgan

Categories
Economy politics shopping

Walmart CFO: higher prices due to tariffs are coming soon

walmart-cfo:-higher-prices-due-to-tariffs-are-coming-soon




What kills me about the way “but the price of eggs!” took over the 2024 election, is that the American economy was outperforming all other countries coming out of the pandemic. The total lack of perspective Americans showed, whether through honest or willful ignorance, is mind-boggling. So here we are, not a full two months since Economy Don flashed his bigly tariff chart from the White House Rose Garden, and it’s all a f–king mess. At this point I’d usually say, “If only someone had explicitly said this is what would happen…” except even that gloating refrain has lost its satisfaction (yet another thing this administration has robbed from us). Last month, Amazon floated marking the cost of the Trump Tariffs in their product listings, until Trump pitched a fit and his bro Bezos immediately backed down. Well, Walmart isn’t going that far, but their CEO did confirm this week that higher prices will be coming as soon as later this month, all thanks to the tariffs:

The company’s CEO Doug McMillon said Thursday many items on the stores’ shelves are costing more for the company, and will start costing more for shoppers too. Walmart’s finance chief said higher prices were likely to come as soon as this month and into the summer.

Speaking to investors after releasing quarterly earnings, McMillon said Walmart will work to protect food prices as much as possible.

“We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible,” he said. “But given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins in retail.”

He thanked President Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent “for the progress made recently” with a deal that temporarily eased China tariffs to 30% from 145%. McMillon said he hoped for a longer term agreement for even lower taxes on Chinese imports. And he said he hoped the government would lift tariffs on food items, such as bananas and avocados, that don’t really grow in the U.S. but face the universal 10% tariff when imported.

Retail sales are a key pillar of the U.S. economy, and in recent months, some people have begun tightening their budgets in anticipation of higher prices from additional tariffs. People are being selective in choosing where to spend more, such as outings at restaurants and bars, and that has helped overall retail sales from sinking and instead remaining flat in April compared to March, new government data on Thursday show.

“Consumers overall have the money, they’re just losing the will to spend it,” Navy Federal Credit Union economist Robert Frick said in a statement. “Nerves over tariffs and even the jobs market have Americans generally saving more and spending less, but consumption is still increasing, however slightly.”

Walmart, for its part, reported sales rose 4.5% in the latest quarter, between February and April. Executives said about two-thirds of Walmart’s U.S. goods are grown, made or assembled domestically. But the retailer still imports from dozens of other countries, especially electronics and toys from China.

McMillon described numerous ways Walmart is pushing to avoid higher prices. In some cases, like flowers for Mother’s Day, the company and its suppliers have moved to absorb higher import costs. Or Walmart might spread the cost hike of one item with smaller price increases across numerous items in the same department. The company has also been moving some production out of China, and it’s pushed suppliers to change materials — for example, skipping tariffed aluminum in favor of fiberglass without tariffs.

…The big theme continues to be uncertainty, as the Trump administration negotiates individual deals with different countries and shifts its stance on tariffs. The trade war ramped up at the beginning of April, so price hikes have not yet affected the cost of living, with inflation easing last month.

[From NPR]

“Consumers overall have the money, they’re just losing the will to spend it.” What a loaded sentence! On my first read, the yuckster in me replied, “That’s not all we’re losing the will to do.” But reading it over again, is it a dig at us consumers? Like, “You really could spend more of your money, if you just tried harder!” Is spending shame a new mind game they’re trying out to trick us into buying more? Because I have a lifetime of indulgent/impulsive purchases to prove that I need no help in that direction, thankyouverymuch. All I know is, I sure do feel sorry for all the kids who’ll have to suffer with only two dolls for Christmas this year, as opposed to the four for each night of Hanukkah that I got as a girl. But that’s what happens when you put the world’s greatest economy into the baby-fisted hands of a clown who doesn’t even know they make gold paint these days. Enjoy your eggs, everyone.

Categories
shopping

Target, Costco and Publix among the stores that are closing for 24 hours on Easter

target,-costco-and-publix-among-the-stores-that-are-closing-for-24-hours-on-easter



We are now roughly two weeks out from Easter, which is on April 20. It’s super late this year, so the fact that it’s almost here is making me wonder how a calendar year that has felt so long is going by so quickly. Like, what even is time, man? Wasn’t it just January 19? Can we go back to that day and stay in it forever?

Anyway, okay, back to Easter! Since it’s considered a major holiday, a lot of businesses will either close early or shut down for the day completely. Last week, several big retailers announced their Easter Sunday schedules. The stores that will remain open included Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Home Depot. Those that will be closed include Target, Costco, Sam’s Club (which is also owned by Walmart’s parent company), and Publix.

Easter, a Christian holiday marking the end of Lent, will be celebrated this year on Sunday, April 20. Shoppers in need of last-minute groceries and gifts will be able to turn to a few popular chains.

Dollar Tree, for example, is not on the long list of stores closing on Easter, the discount chain confirmed to The U.S. Sun. Shoppers can expect Dollar Tree to keep its roughly 16,800 stores throughout the US and Canada open on the springtime holiday. Dollar Tree remains open for most federal and bank holidays but generally shuts down all of its locations on Christmas.

Not all major retailers have shared their 2025 holiday schedules yet, but consumers can reasonably predict if a store will be open or closed on Easter Sunday based on previous years For example, Walmart, Trader Joe’s, and Kroger all kept their stores open as normal on Easter last year. A handful of other chains, including CVS, Dollar General, and Walgreens are also likely to remain open for the upcoming holiday.

Although Dollar Tree and several other stores will be open on Easter, many national retail chains will shut their doors for 24 hours to commemorate the holiday and permit employees time at home with loved ones. For example, Target confirmed to The U.S. Sun that all of its nearly 2,000 locations would participate in the widespread Easter closures.

“Guests can expect regular store hours on April 19 and can check Target.com or the Target app for local store information,” a Target spokesperson stated via email.

Aldi will also close its roughly 2,500 locations nationwide on April 20 Costco and Sam’s Club have also confirmed that they will temporarily shutter their warehouse clubs to permit staff time to celebrate the holiday. Other chains likely participating in the upcoming retail blackout include H-E-B, Best Buy, Marshalls, and more.

[From The Sun]

I’m infamous among my friends and family for being a last-minute planner, so I find that knowing what’s open and closed ahead of time is helpful. For example, Mr. Rosie and I hosted Thanksgiving for the first time in November 2013. On the morning of, I suddenly remembered that his mom liked a specific type and brand of gravy. I made Mr. Rosie drive around to three different stores before we found one that was open. It was not one of my better days. So, here’s something that Mr. R would have appreciated having all those years ago: a list of what’s opened and closed on Easter.

Open for Easter:


CVS


Dollar General


Whole Foods


Home Depot


Kroger


Trader Joe’s


Walgreens


Walmart


Dollar Tree

Closed for Easter:


Target


Costco


Aldi


Sam’s Club


Publix


JCPenney


Kohl’s


Macy’s


H-E-B


Michaels


Lowe’s


Best Buy


Marshalls

Home Depot being open makes me laugh because who is going in to buy supplies for a home project on Easter? Santa Claus? In all seriousness, I know the subject of stores being open and closed on holidays can be controversial, so I just want to say how appreciative I am of the employees who work on those days, even the ones who do so because they do not celebrate the holiday. They’re still showing up on a day when much of the world has tapped out. The moral here is to not be like me. Make those employees’ lives easier on Easter by buying everything you need ahead of time. Oh, and I have never hosted a Thanksgiving since.

Categories
Advertising shopping

Woman who lost dad on 9/11 slams Etsy for 9/11-themed Garfield t-shirts

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I can easily lose a good hour or more scrolling through the Etsy app on my phone. Recently I’ve been perusing Rosenthal ceramics, particularly pieces by Bjørn Wiinblad. And my mother is getting ready to redo parts of her kitchen, so I’m having fun looking up cabinet knobs and drawer pulls I know she’d like. Miraculously, I buy very little despite favoriting a gazillion items. Still, Etsy has worked out the niche Kismet algorithm: vintage quirky/whimsical easily breakable. So I was seriously disappointed to hear this story of extremely poor taste from Etsy. Long Island, NY resident Amy Stabile shared with local news that an Etsy ad popped up while she was on Facebook. The ad was for a Garfield t-shirt, wherein the comic cat is in the shape of an airplane headed towards two towers of lasagna. The caption read, “9/11? Yeah! I’ll take 911 … orders of lasagna!” That’s revolting enough as far as I’m concerned, but making it worse is the fact that Stabile lost her father in the tragedy.

Amy Stabile told Fox 5 New York that she had been scrolling through Facebook when she saw an Etsy ad for T-shirts with a 9/11-themed design of Garfield and New York City’s World Trade Center Twin Towers.

The shirts depicted Garfield in the shape of an airplane flying into the character’s favorite food — lasagna — in the shape of the towers. The shirt read, “9/11? Yeah! I’ll take 911 … orders of lasagna!”

Nearly 3,000 people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, after terrorists hijacked planes and flew them into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

Stabile’s dad, Herman Broghammer, died in the attacks that day.

“I just couldn’t believe my eyes,” Stabile recalled to Fox 5 New York after seeing the shirts online. “Thousands of lives were murdered [in the 9/11 incident].”

“When I saw Garfield — I didn’t even understand how it goes together,” she continued. “There are so many things you could put on a T-shirt. Why this? You feel so crushed that someone, anyone, could think that the loss of these lives is funny.”

The seller of the T-shirts, NelliesNestStore, is based in Australia, though they ship out of North Carolina, Fox 5 New York reported.

The store’s profile reads, “Silly Merch for Silly Dudes” and boasts a five-star rating. The seller has since taken the T-shirts down from the website as of Saturday, March 22.

According to Etsy’s current policies, items that “promote, support or glorify hatred” or “violence” are prohibited from the site. A spokesperson for the company told Fox 5 New York that humor is subjective and that the platform did not plan to remove the items.

A spokesperson also told the outlet that it would take a closer look to make sure that the T-shirts depicting Garfield and 9/11 didn’t end up in ads.

Stabile, meanwhile, is calling for stricter policies on the market selling platform. She told Fox 5 New York: “Maybe it’s time to start creating policies where this goes against your company policies. You’re making money [off] terrorism. Where are these companies? Stand up for the families of 9/11 and do something about this.”

“At some point you want to say, ‘Have some humanity and think about how you’re making your money,’” she added.

[From People]

I’m sorry, how on earth can Etsy claim that this t-shirt doesn’t glorify hatred and violence? We all know the act of terrorism the graphic is referencing. And then in order to pull the “humor is subjective” defense, the item in question has to actually be funny, which this tee most definitely is not. I understand free speech must be protected, but is this sad sack clothing company really the hill Etsy wants to die on? To be clear: in no way do I hold Garfield responsible! Clearly his good name and image have been usurped by bad faith actors, who methinks have probably heard from lawyers by now over an unlicensed usage of the famous feline. (Which is probably the real motivating factor behind them taking the shirt down off their Etsy page, let’s be real.) As of this writing, the store has only two t-shirts for sale, one of which says “I hate my wife.” So funny I forgot to laugh. And among the reviews for the store was one customer who wrote earlier this month, “I got fired from my job for wearing this.”

So a quick reminder to anyone uncertain: the only appropriate time to invoke 9/11 in a joke is NEVER. I don’t think Etsy fully gets it, though, based on their comment they’d make sure “T-shirts depicting Garfield and 9/11 didn’t end up in ads.” The ad part isn’t the issue!

Photos are screenshots from YouTube/Fox 5 NY

Categories
Jake Bongiovi Millie Bobby Brown Money shopping

Millie Bobby Brown still shops at Target and carefully considers large purchases

millie-bobby-brown-still-shops-at-target-and-carefully-considers-large-purchases




Millie Bobby Brown has been very visible lately, and it’s not just because of her new platinum blonde hair. Her movie with Chris Pratt, The Electric State, premiered on Netflix on March 14, which prompted the recent flurry of appearances, including covering the March issue of Vanity Fair. In that interview, Millie — who married Jake Bongiovi last May when she was 20 and he was 22 — talked about conversations she and Jake had when they got together. Things like making sure they were aligned on politics, values, and their career and family goals. It seems there’s one area, though, where they agreed to be opposites: money! On a recent episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, Millie shared how wildly different financial backgrounds have shaped their contrasting spending habits. While Jake grew up with Bon Jovi money, Millie’s family had very little before she landed Stranger Things. The experience left such an impact that to this day, Millie still shops for basics at Target and Amazon, and carefully considers large purchases.

Millie Bobby Brown still remembers what it was like to have financial insecurity.

The 21-year-old “grew up with no money” before receiving the life-changing call that she had been cast on Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” In an appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Brown said that her upbringing has had a profound effect on how she thinks about her finances.

“I have a money thing where I’m very conscious about money,” she said. “When I do spend money on something, I have to call my parents, I have to think about it, I don’t just buy it right away.”

That’s not because money is in short supply. The “Electric State” star was reportedly earning $10 million per film as early as 2019 and has a “ridiculously lucrative” overall deal with Netflix, according to Puck.

But just because she has the money doesn’t mean she has champagne tastes. Compared to her husband Jake Bongiovi — son of musician Jon Bon Jovi — Brown said she is very thrifty.

“I’ll be like, ‘Oh, I need socks,’ and he’ll be like ‘Let’s go to Prada,’” she said. “And I’m like ‘Let’s go to Target.’”

“He loves to go shopping,” she continued. “He will refuse to pack a suitcase because he likes to go shopping in the place we’re going. Whereas I like Amazon Basics. I love that.”

Indeed, when Brown wanted to make her first big purchase with her Netflix earnings, she said she needed her parents to encourage her to take the plunge and buy the Chanel sunglasses she had her eye on.

…Brown’s strategy of waiting before making a big purchase is in line with advice from experts. To curb impulse shopping, finance podcaster Glen James recommends employing something called the 1% rule: if you want to make a purchase that’s larger than 1% of your gross annual income, wait at least a day before purchasing it.

The 24-hour cool down period gives you time to sit with your decision and determine if you really want the item.

[From CNBC]

Was I laughing at baby-faced Jake saying, “Let’s go to Prada!” for socks? You bet. Though I’m sure my feet would probably cry out “What have you been doing to us all these years?!” the day I ever get so lucky to don a pair of designer socks, I still say Jake’s lucky to have Millie around to knock some sense into educate him. And I’m not at all surprised their respective financial backgrounds have stuck with them. Kids know their home money situation. My mother and aunt are seven years apart, and they’ve talked to each other a lot about how different each of their childhoods were based on changes in my grandparents’ income. For my part, growing up I always took note of the postcard affixed to our refrigerator that said, “Anyone who lives within his means suffers from a lack of imagination.” So I love it when people (especially women!) talk about money, and will definitely file away that practical tip about waiting a day on a purchase that’s 1% of my gross income. And I’ll pay it forward with a bit of advice that was transformative for me: if you can, try to put 10% of your paycheck into savings. It adds up!

PS — Wait, did Millie really just reveal that Jake basically buys a new wardrobe for each trip? Oh-oh, livin’ on… dad’s royalties.

Embed from Getty Images

Photos credit: Smart Pictures/Avalon, Oscar Gonzalez/Wenn/Avalon, IMAGO/Barbara Hine/Avalon, Backgrid

Categories
Business shopping

Walgreens CEO: ‘When you lock things up… you don’t sell as many of them’

walgreens-ceo:-‘when-you-lock-things-up…-you-don’t-sell-as-many-of-them’




The official parent company of Walgreens drugstores is called Walgreens Boots Alliance, and they have just announced that their numbers categorically prove that the anti-theft practice of locking up products has hurt their sales. If you’re like me, your first thought was, “What are ‘Boots’ doing in the company name? Is Walgreens branching into shoe sales?” But the answer is boring, just that 10 years ago Walgreens bought a majority stake in Alliance Boots, a UK pharmacy company. And then if you’re still like me, our second response was, “No, duh.” People don’t want to wait for a store clerk to unlock a cabinet! They’d honestly rather order next or two day delivery instead, and view that as less of a time waste. While Walgreens reported only a $39 million operating loss in the first fiscal quarter of 2024, one year later that number has ballooned to $245 million. If my math is correct (which is a big if), that’s roughly six-times more millions worth of losses. Here’s more from Walgreens’ CEO Timothy Wentworth:

Walgreens has admitted that locking up products within its stores has affected its sales.

During a recent earnings call, Timothy Wentworth, the CEO of Walgreens’ parent company, Walgreens Boots Alliance, detailed how anti-theft measures such as securing products in plastic cases or utilizing security tags impacted the chain’s annual earnings.

“When you lock things up … you don’t sell as many of them,” Wentworth said, adding: “We’ve kind of proven that pretty conclusively.”

During the first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, Walgreens Boots Alliance said they saw an operating loss of $245 million.

Previously, the company saw a $39 million loss in the same quarter a year ago.

During the earnings call, Wentworth also said that Walgreens is looking for “creative” solutions to address “shrink” — the loss of inventory caused by reasons other than sales.

He remained vague on what Walgreens plans to do exactly, though, stating, “I don’t have anything magnificent to share with you today.”

Walgreens plans to close hundreds of stores by the end of 2025, according to Wentworth. The company has already closed around 2,000 locations over the past decade.

“We have a lot of experience with store closures,” the CEO explained during the earnings call. “Naturally, we expect our future footprint to support stronger performance.”

[From People]

You guys, everything CEO Wentworth is quoted as saying is pure gold. I didn’t think so many gems could come out of a single financial review call! First there’s the obvious, “When you lock things up … you don’t sell as many of them … We’ve kind of proven that pretty conclusively.” No notes on delivery. Another seemingly deadpan comment that killed me was, “We have a lot of experience with store closures.” At this point I’m wondering, is this a script from The Office reboot?! But the absolute best line, which I will definitely be using in my work meetings this week, is the dryly brilliant: “I don’t have anything magnificent to share with you today.” I’m tempted to add that to my email signature, it’s that good.

But getting back to the topic at hand… When I got hit with a bad bout of Covid over the summer, I relied on NyQuil to get me through. At first it was to help clear out my airwaves so I could breathe and sleep (and do both at the same time). Then it was helpful to knock myself out and thus avoid the bitingly metallic and wholly distracting taste that Paxlovid left in my mouth. But sure enough, when I trudged into my Walgreens the magical elixir was locked behind a cabinet. I had to ring the buzzer for assistance two or three times before someone came over. Because the thing about locking up most of your products, is that you can’t also understaff your store. In fact, beefing up staff would help overall in cracking down on theft — there’d be more people to unlock cabinets for customers, and just more eyes on the floor to deter sticky fingers. But judging from Wentworth’s closing comment, “We expect our future footprint to support stronger performance,” it seems they don’t plan on hiring more employees. Instead they’re going with the unassailable logic of, “Our losses will decrease… if we have fewer stores!”

They locked up the M&Ms in Walgreens in the safe part of the East Bay in California lol pic.twitter.com/Mh3Zg0ZCg7

— Francis Chen // 陈东成 (@fncischen) January 18, 2025

Walgreens’ CEO shares they are trying to come up with ‘creative’ ways to combat shoplifting due to locking items up decreasing sales:

“When you lock things up, for example, you don’t sell as many of them. We’ve kind of proven that pretty conclusively.” pic.twitter.com/J9qF0rtNkW

— Pop Base (@PopBase) January 15, 2025

Photo note by CB: This is the actual photo of the CEO, Tim Wentworth, from the Walgreens Boots Alliance website. I did not edit it. I would have used a photo from Getty but they don’t have any.


Photos credit: Scott Webb on Pexels and Jen Shish on Unsplash and via Walgreens Boots and Twitter

Categories
Lawsuits Movies shopping

Mattel sued over Wicked dolls that link to an adult website

mattel-sued-over-wicked-dolls-that-link-to-an-adult-website



Not only is Wicked (Part 1!) defying gravity at the box office, the film is also raking in a fortune from an arsenal of popular merch that’s been rolled out just in time for the holidays. Over a month before the movie was even released, people were already fighting over the official Stanley water cups, and those didn’t even have any character likenesses printed on them — they were just pink and green! But no worries, because of course witches Glinda and Elphaba were destined to get their very own Barbies. Which they did last month, in several costumes for each character taken directly from scenes in the film. There was just one, teenie weenie, problem: parents and kids followed directions on the back of the box to get more info from the film’s website, only instead of linking to the right place (WickedMovie.com), they ended up visiting a page with adult content. Now, in an entirely foreseeable move even the wizard and I could see coming, a parent is suing Mattel for the x-rated misprint:

Mattel has hit a legal bump in the yellow brick road.

After mistakenly printing the URL for a pornographic website on the packaging of dolls tied to the blockbuster movie musical Wicked, the toy maker is being sued by a South Carolina woman who says she and her minor daughter were “irreparably harmed” by the mixup.

In a proposed class action filed Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court, which Entertainment Weekly has reviewed, Holly Ricketson alleges that she bought a Wicked doll for her daughter, who subsequently “used an iPhone to visit the website shown” on the packaging. “To her absolute shock the website, ‘Wicked.com,’ had nothing to do with the Wicked Doll,” the complaint says. “Rather, Wicked.com pasted scenes of pornographic advertisements across her phone screen.” Ricketson and her daughter were both “horrified” by what they saw.

Ricketson’s suit accuses Mattel of unjust enrichment, negligence, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, violation of California’s false advertising law, and more.

Mattel, the California-based company behind classic toys such as Barbie and Hot Wheels, told EW that it does not comment on pending litigation. A spokesperson also provided a statement that said, “The Wicked Dolls have returned for sale with correct packaging at retailers online and in stores to meet the strong consumer demand for the products. The previous misprint on the packaging in no way impacts the value or play experience provided by the product itself in the limited number of units sold before the correction. We express our gratitude to our consumers and retailers for their understanding and patience while we worked to remedy the issue.”

Mattel apologized for the error last month, after it was discovered that customers were being directed to an adult website rather than WickedMovie.com. Customers were advised to discard the product packaging and obscure the incorrect link.

But that wasn’t enough for Ricketson and her legal team, who say in the complaint that Mattel “did not offer any refund for consumers who had already purchased the dolls such as Plaintiff and the putative class members as plead herein.”

One of Ricketson’s attorneys, Roy T. Willey IV, said in a statement to EW, “Parents trust that products marketed to children are safe and free from risks of exposure to harmful content. Unfortunately, that trust was broken in this instance.”

He added, “This lawsuit is not just about recovering the cost of these dolls; it is about holding corporations accountable for the responsibility they have to safeguard children. When a company markets a product to young children, it has an obligation to ensure that every aspect of that product — from its design to its packaging — is free of risks to their safety and well-being.”

[From EW via Yahoo! Entertainment]

Yeah, I don’t see how Mattel has any way out from eating sh-t over this. But to fully appreciate their f–k up, you have to backtrack to this summer when they proudly announced how they were using generative AI to work on Barbie packaging. They said it would make things “better or stronger” and enable “the creative process to move faster.” Better, faster, stronger… just not factually accurater! As I said in the aftermath of the Megaflopolis trailer using AI to fill in film review quotes — which all turned out to be fake — AI is NOT a reliable fact-checking tool! This is a job for humans. It is not glamorous, it requires research and diligence, and there are no shortcuts. Which is why I think Mattel’s obvious next step should be releasing a Fact-Checker Barbie. Will it help with the lawsuit? Not at all. But it would be a savvy PR spin, an acknowledgment of their mistake, and just a good measure to promote and honor the profession. This Barbie keeps authors, outlets, and companies from making public fools of themselves.

Mattel accidentally released official #Wicked dolls that link to a p-rn site

The URL was supposed to be ‘Wickedmovie’ but instead just says ‘Wicked’ and leads to a site requiring users to be 18 or older pic.twitter.com/Zf0Oq73G7j

— Culture Crave ???? (@CultureCrave) November 10, 2024