Wicked movie merchandising turned into a nightmare for Mattel on Sunday as news broke that a web address listed on the packaging for character dolls took consumers to an adult pornographic site.
Sources say Mattel is responsible for the mistake. By Sunday afternoon, the dolls were no longer available for sale at Target, one of the leading retail partners on the Universal movie. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the same website address appears on Mattel packaging for Wicked products and toys being sold by other retailers.
Mattel didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wicked opens in theaters Nov. 22, and is tracking to do big business. Filmmaker Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the popular Broadway musical boasts a high-profile cast led by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
The character dolls being sold with the erroneous address include Grande’s Glinda and Erivo’s Elphaba.
The web address listed on the boxed dolls is wicked.com, instead of wickedmovie.com. When clicking on the first link, a page comes up requiring users to be 18 and older. Those who click “enter” land on a porn site promoting an upcoming porn move titled Kenzie Loves Girls 2 that’s from a venture calling itself Wicked Pictures.
More to come.
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