(LifeSiteNews) — A South Carolina mom is suing toymaker Mattel after her young daughter accessed a pornographic website through a link provided on the packaging for a doll based on the new movie “Wicked.”
The mom, Holly Ricketson, recounted in her class action suit filed in Los Angeles federal court that her daughter “used an iPhone to visit the website shown” on the packaging, according to Entertainment Weekly.
“To her absolute shock the website, ‘Wicked.com’, had nothing to do with the Wicked Doll,” Entertainment Weekly reported. “Rather, Wicked.com pasted scenes of pornographic advertisements across her phone screen.”
The link intended to be included on the packaging was WickedMovie.com. The recently released blockbuster movie is based on the successful Broadway musical by the same name.
Ricketson and her daughter reportedly were both “horrified” by what they saw and suffered emotional distress.
“Parents trust that products marketed to children are safe and free from risks of exposure to harmful content,” said Roy T. Willey IV, one of the attorneys representing Ricketson. “Unfortunately, that trust was broken in this instance.”
“This lawsuit is not just about recovering the cost of these dolls; it is about holding corporations accountable for the responsibility they have to safeguard children,” the attorney explained. “When a company markets a product to young children, it has an obligation to ensure that every aspect of that product – from its design to its packaging – is free of risks to their safety and well-being.”
“The Wicked Dolls have returned for sale with correct packaging at retailers online and in stores to meet the strong consumer demand for the products,” a spokesperson for Mattel told US Weekly. “The previous misprint on the packaging in no way impacts the value or play experience provided by the product itself in the limited number of units sold before the correction. We express our gratitude to our consumers and retailers for their understanding and patience while we worked to remedy the issue.”
The South Carolina mom’s lawsuit accuses Mattel of unjust enrichment, negligence and violation of California’s false advertising law, among other things, according to Entertainment Weekly.