Mattel has been hit with a lawsuit after a link on Wicked merchandise directed to a porn website instead of anything related to the movie.
While Wicked is continuing its box-office domination, a piece of Mattel merchandise from the movie has prompted a multi-million dollar lawsuit over an inadvertent porn connection. Uh oh.
After buying a Wicked doll for her young daughter, Holly Ricketson discovered that the website on the packaging didn’t take her to anything related to the movie but rather a pornographic website. “After opening the box that contained the Wicked Doll, Plaintiff’s minor daughter used an iPhone to visit the website shown on Defendant’s packaging,” reads the filing. “To her absolute shock, the website, ‘Wicked.com’, had nothing to do with the Wicked Doll. Rather, Wicked.com pasted scenes of pornographic advertisements across her phone screen.“
The filing continues: “These scenes were hardcore, full on nude pornographic images depicting actual intercourse, and can be available for an in-camera review by the court as necessary. Plaintiff’s minor daughter immediately showed her mother the photographs and both were horrified by what they saw. If Plaintiff had been aware of such an inappropriate defect in the Product, she would not have purchased it.“
Mattel pulled the dolls off shelves last month, saying: “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.” However, Ricketson says Mattel didn’t offer a “refund for consumers who had already purchased the dolls.“
Wicked is now playing in theaters, and despite not being much of a Broadway musical fan, our own Chris Bumbray found a lot to like. “While I’ll admit that there were a handful of moments where I felt I was missing some kind of in-joke for fans of the play, overall, I had a pretty good time with Jon M. Chu’s Wicked – Part I,” Bumbray wrote. “Certainly, it’s one of the better modern versions of The Wizard of Oz, far more entertaining than Sam Raimi’s largely forgotten Oz: The Great and Powerful. Chu seems to have a knack for movie musicals, and with Universal clearly pumping a pretty penny into it, it feels like the kind of big, broad fantasy epic that should be able to crossover beyond its core audience of Broadway enthusiasts.” You can check out the rest of his review right here.
