Still from the movie “Wicked”
Source: Universal Studios
Thousands Mattels “Wicked” branded fashion dolls are flying off the shelves, but not because of consumer demand.
The toy company has been forced to discontinue its line of character dolls after a packaging error. Instead of mentioning the website Universal In the “Wicked” movie, the boxes contained a link to a pornographic website run by a group called Wicked Pictures.
“Mattel was made aware of a misprint on the packaging of the Mattel Wicked collection dolls, sold primarily in the U.S., which was intended to direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com landing page,” Mattel said in a statement declaration. “We deeply regret this unfortunate error and are taking immediate action to rectify it. Parents are advised that the misprinted, incorrect website is not suitable for children. Consumers who already have the product are advised to discard the product packaging or link and please contact Mattel Customer Service for more information.”
Goal, Walmart And Amazon had removed the line of 'Wicked' dolls from their online stores as of Monday afternoon, just like that Best buyBarnes & Noble and Macy's. The products were also sold on Kohl's and DSW, among other retailers. Some sites continued to take action on the listings throughout the day on Monday.
It is unclear whether Mattel will reprint the packages or provide retailers with stickers to cover the incorrect website domain. Mattel did not return CNBC's request for additional comment after making its initial statement.
“Like any business, mistakes can be made in the toy industry,” said James Zahn, editor-in-chief of The Toy Book. “This was probably an innocent mistake that went through the normal processes. Most consumers – children and adults alike – will never read the fine print on a package, and ultimately the package is designed to end up inside the package. The chance that a child will read the back of a doll box and be inclined to go online and visit the website is quite small.”
The misfortune comes as Universal floods store shelves with “Wicked” related products ahead of the film's Nov. 22 release. The green-pink barrage is expected to provide a major boost to retail sales just in time for the crucial holiday season.
However, Mattel could see its revenues affected by the cost of removing the dolls.
“I guess the impact depends on the resolution, which we don't know yet,” said Jaime Katz, an analyst at Morningstar.
“The big winners in the short term are resellers, as this bummer caused quite a stir this weekend as store shelves quickly emptied by opportunists looking to make a quick buck by selling on eBay or Facebook Marketplace,” Zahn noted.
Dozens of misprinted Mattel dolls are already available on eBay for list prices ranging from $40 to $2,100. The dolls sold for between $20 and $40 depending on the character and outfit.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is the distributor of “Wicked.”
