Toy Maker Mattel Sued After 'Wicked' Website Fiasco

LOS ANGELES—Toy giant Mattel is facing a federal class action lawsuit filed against the company by a South Carolina parent after an X-rated misprinting on Barbie dolls that was meant to help promote the major motion picture Wicked, which is now in theaters and breaking records for Universal Pictures. The packaging for the dolls mistakenly displayed the website address for Wicked Pictures, wicked.com, instead of the film's official webpage, wickedmovie.com. The only class action plaintiff, Holly Ricketson, alleges that Mattel's civil violations of California and federal law include unjust enrichment, negligence and false advertising. She is represented by the mass tort law firm Poulin Willey Anastopoulo LLC, from Charleston, S.C. The plaintiff's attorneys in the complaint argue, "Plaintiff suffered injury in that she purchased a doll that is worthless. ... For all intents and purposes, plaintiff's doll is now a notoriously inappropriate product. "Plaintiff also suffered economic loss in reference to the value of her doll," notes the complaint. "[The] plaintiff has suffered damages in that plaintiff has been inconvenienced by [the] defendant's recall because [the] Plaintiff did not bargain for or pay for a doll that was inappropriate for children ages four and above." Here, Ricketson's counsel refers to the immediate recall Mattel issued to retailers to prevent further sale of the Barbie dolls. Representatives for Mattel have continued to apologize for the misprinting error despite the misprinting going viral across most major social media networks, including TikTok and Instagram. As of this writing, no trial dates have been set, and no other plaintiffs have been added to the class action's plaintiff class. Ricketson's prayer for relief includes compensation for emotional distress and restitution. Wicked stars Ariana Grande as Glinda, the good witch, and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, the bad witch, in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical scored by Grammy-winning playwright Stephen Schwartz. Both the film and musical are based on a similarly named book by novelist Gregory Maguire and the renowned literary works of L. Frank Baum. Also, note that Mattel's misprinting has recently been cited in an amicus brief filed by members of Congress at the U.S. Supreme Court.   The filing was led by far-right anti-porn Republican lawmakers, Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Josh Hawley of Missouri, who justify the misprinting as a justification for inequitable age verification laws.   Those members of Congress filed an amicus brief in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, which challenges the constitutionality of the controversial Texas House Bill (HB) 1181. The bill explicitly targets adult entertainment websites, like Wicked Pictures, with mandates to adopt age verification measures.   The Free Speech Coalition, the adult industry's trade group, and the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case argue that age verification requirements like HB 1181 violate the First Amendment rights of adults and minors alike.