There are some toys that our kids love that we have a hard time understanding the appeal. Perhaps they make too much noise and have no volume control, maybe they're small and go missing way too often, or there is something else about them that we can't figure out. It happens, and often we let it slide.
Sometimes though, there's a toy that comes out that makes parents turn their heads for less innocent reasons. That's what happened recently with a Trolls World Tour doll, and given the controversy, Hasbro has decided to discontinue the toy.
Hasbro has discontinued its 'Trolls World Tour' Poppy doll after a petition popped up.
According to Heavy.com, there's been some controversy online surrounding a Trolls World Tour poppy doll — specifically the DreamWorks Trolls World Tour Giggle & Sing Poppy toy. Sold at Walmart, the doll was marketed to kids 4 and older and would make sounds when it sat down — it would sing and giggle, and the issue some parents had with the doll was the placement of the button that made the noises.
The controversy began after a mom whose daughter received the toy as a gift shared a video on social media.
A three-minute video was posted to both Facebook and Instagram with the caption: "Go i dare you. Tell me I'm crazy. In what morphed dimension of the simulation IS THIS OK? how do you cognitive dissonance this away?" The caption continued, "They're attacking your children and you just keep calling the people telling you 'crazy' God be with us. Some people really wont see the problem here."
The video in question now has a fact-check label on it on both Instagram and Facebook, saying it's "partly false" after fact-checkers reviewed it.
The issue with the toy comes from claims that it was designed with a special "private parts" button in an attempt to groom young children for pedophilia.
In the video, a mom said she found the toy "disturbing" and brings up the "sex trafficking of kids" and addresses the "things that are thrown in our kids' faces to groom them" and ties that all into this toy — the Giggle & Sing Poppy toy.
The mom told the story of her daughter receiving the toy and then showed the box and the Poppy toy. The mom then flipped the toy over to reveal a button that's on the bottom of the doll, "on her privates," the mom said.
"And when you push this, it makes these sounds," the mom said while pushing the button. In the video, it sounds like the doll makes small noises each time the button is pressed.
"I know some of you may not think this is a big deal, but especially since I've had kids, this is wrong," the mom said. The mom's issue was the box "said nothing about this button" and that it "makes a gasping sound when you touch her privates."
The video went viral on social media, and it sparked a petition to remove the doll.
The video hit over 33,000 views on Facebook, and thousands more viewed it on Instagram. From that, a petition was started on Change.org, calling for the doll to be pulled.
"Our society is conditioning our children to think pedophilia is ok," the petition called for. "This Trolls World Tour doll named Poppy has a button on her private area under her skirt. When you push this button on the doll's private she gasps and giggles. This is not okay for a child's toy! This toy needs to be removed from our stores."
Hasbro addressed the criticism.
Although there's a fact-checking note on the social platforms regarding this video and fact-checking site Lead Stories debunked the claim saying, "There is no evidence, beyond the fears of some mothers, that the button is part of a secret strategy by the toymaker to prep kids for sex trafficking," Hasbro has decided to discontinue the doll.
Lead Stories reported the senior vice president of global communications for Hasbro, Julie Duffy, told them that not all of the Poppy dolls have that button — just the Giggle & Sing version.
"This feature was designed to react when the doll was seated, but we recognize the placement of the sensor may be perceived as inappropriate," she said. "This was not intentional, and we are happy to provide consumers with a replacement Poppy doll of similar value through our Consumer Care team."
Duffy says Hasbro is "in the process of removing the item for purchase."
