Michelle Obama Not Happy About Ty Sasha and Malia Dolls
Posted on January 25, 2009
Michelle Obama is not happy about Ty's new dolls named Sasha and Malia after the new First Tweens.
"We feel it is inappropriate to use young, private citizens for marketing purposes," Mrs. Obama's press secretary, Katie McCormick Lelyveld, said in a statement.The TyGirlz Collection also includes dolls named Jammin' Jenna, Happy Hillary, Precious Paris and Bubbly Britney. Ty spokeswoman Tania Lundeen told The Chicago Sun-Times that the dolls were inspired by Sasha and Malia Obama. Then later, she told the AP that the dolls are not inspired by the First Tweens, but instead that the names were chosen because they are "pretty." Ty is being pretty obnoxious about this. Sasha and Malia are children and did not choose to become celebrities.
And speaking of obnoxious, the state of Illinois demanded that Ty stop selling the Jammin' Jenna doll because her shoes are filled with toxic lead. Ty stopped selling the dolls in Illinois, but is selling them across the U.S. The Illinois Attorney General is pursuing several toy companies for having excess lead in their toys. Ty claims its toys meet federal guidelines.
Ty Retires Malia and Sasha Ty Girlz Dolls
Update: Ty has retired the controversial Malia and Sasha dolls that are part of the company's Ty Girlz line. The dolls are now marked with the word "retired" on the Ty website. The website now contains a statement from Ty Warner, the founder and CEO of Ty Inc.
Warner says, "While the names Marvelous Malia and Sweet Sasha were inspired by this historic time in our nation's history, the dolls were not intended to bear the likeness of the First Daughters. Marvelous Malia and Sweet Sasha were based on the same design we have used for all 29 of the dolls in our popular Ty Girlz collection -- which are all intended to look like no one in particular and everyone in general."
Warner says 100% of the profits from sales of Marvelous Malia and Sweet Sasha to the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation.
This is a smart move by Ty because the company was receiving a backlash from launching and selling the dolls.