This is one of those stories that just makes your stomach churn.
We certainly cannot speak to the intentions of the designer of Hasbro’s “Trolls World Tour Giggle and Sing Poppy” doll, but the fact that it is being pulled from the shelves after consumers complained about the placement of a button which causes the doll to gasp and say “Oh!” should definitely concern you.
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The dolls are now being pulled from shelves after a petition with over 150,000 signatures objected to the apparent normalization of child abuse that was the placement of a button on the doll’s “private area under her skirt.”
The toy has one button on its stomach that, when pressed, triggers a song or phrases such as “How about a hug?” CNN reports.
However, the very bizarrely placed button placed under the skirt that, when pushed, prompts noises such as “Whee!” and “Oh!” has been causing alarm.
Is @Hasbro normalizing grooming & facilitating child abuse?
— Sam Parkerpic.twitter.com/Q258vsGqcC
(@SamParkerSenate) August 5, 2020
Quite creepily, the woman who made the video shared in the tweet above notes that the box says nothing about the doll. So parents could easily be giving this doll to their children without even knowing what they are about to stumble across, only to find their new toy gasps coyly when a button between her legs is pressed.
This is absolutely inappropriate.“When you push this button on the doll’s privates she gasps and giggles. This is not okay for a child’s toy! This toy needs to be removed from our stores,” the online petition, which CNN says was aimed at Target, Amazon, Walmart, and other major retailers reads.“What will this toy make our innocent, impressionable children think? That it’s fun when someone touches your private area? That pedophilia and child molestation are okay? ” it adds.
Hasbro, however, told CNN that it’s all just a big misunderstanding.
Hasbro spokeswoman Julie Duffy told CNN in a statement that “this feature was designed to react when the doll was seated, but we recognize the placement of the sensor may be perceived as inappropriate.”
“This was not intentional and we are happy to provide consumers with a replacement Poppy doll of similar value through our Consumer Care team. We are in the process of removing the item for purchase,” Duffy added.
How many adults were involved in the design, testing, manufacturing, and distribution of this product? Did seriously not one of them think it was completely inappropriate to have a child’s doll with a button directly between its legs that makes suggestive noises when pressed? Especially in today’s highly-sexualized, post-#MeToo world?
We can’t make any claims at all, but this seems incredibly difficult to believe.
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