Quite often when our kids get a new toy, we’re in such a hurry to get the batteries in and let them play with it that once that’s done, we send them on their merry way, hoping the toy will keep them occupied and entertained for a bit. We trust the toy companies and don’t suspect that our children might be exposed to something inappropriate.
But that’s not always the case. One mom’s Christmas Eve gift exchange proved we all need to double-check what these automated toys are saying, preferably before we purchase them.
Ashley's grandmother purchased a toy remote for her son.
Ashley Lynn, who goes by @mommabearash on TikTok, has a Christmas tradition of opening gifts with her family on Christmas Eve. This year, her grandmother purchased a toy remote for her 9-month-old son.
The remote was produced by Linsay, a toy company that specializes in digital technology. They placed batteries in the remote, which was purchased from Walmart, and gave it to the baby.
Ashley's grandmother heard the toy say something about a shooting.
The infant enjoyed the toy, pressing the buttons. As he did so, his grandmother noticed something odd. She told Ashley that the remote “just said something about a drive-by shooting.”
Ashley thought, “There is no way.” Still, when she investigated, she found that her grandmother had heard correctly.
The toy, which has a joke mode, said, “You’ll never guess what makes a clip clop, clip clop, bang bang clip clop noise … an Amish drive-by shooting.”
There were other jokes about Catholic priests and even Santa Claus not being real.
“How many Catholic priests are required to screw a lightbulb into the socket? One to do the screwing and one to hear the confession,” the toy said.
Wild.
The joke that upset Ashley the most, though, was one that claimed Santa Claus doesn’t exist. The box notes that the toy is made for children 3 years and older, and the description claims that the jokes are “helpful for the baby to learn cultural knowledge and play.”
Ashley complained to the toy developer.
Ashley found other complaints about the toy online and reached out to Linsay, telling the company how inappropriate the remote was.
The company responded in a timely manner, saying they “had opened an investigation and this toy would stop being sold.” Afterward, Ashley searched retail sites that had previously carried the remote and found it had been removed.
The toy has since been removed from shelves.
Many are wondering how a toy with these jokes could have made its way to store shelves in the first place. One TikToker offered this suggestion: “I work in software development … 100% bet some developers copy and pasted jokes as a joke to them but forgot to delete.”
Whatever the reason, we’re happy Ashley decided to say something before toddlers started sharing these off-color jokes at day care.
