Almost a month ago, we reported on Mattel printing the domain Wicked.com on its doll merchandise, aimed at fans of the newly released movie “Wicked.”
Instead of using WickedMovie.com as the correct link, Mattel’s product and marketing team ended up utilizing Wicked.com — the domain name of an established producer of adult, pornographic movies, Wicked Pictures.
The snafu by Mattel demonstrates how generic, one word .com domain names are expected to be associated with products or services that match the keyword. Mattel apologized about the mishap and noted that it advised its major retailers, such as Walmart, BestBuy, Target, Amazon, and others to pull the inventory.
At the same time, Wicked Pictures toned down its content by changing the homepage of Wicked.com into Netflix, more or less.
But neither of these actions have been enough, it seems.
Holly Ricketson, a South Carolina mother, has filed a class action lawsuit against Mattel for allowing this to happen, seeking a minimum of $5 million dollars for the class.
In a class action filed in federal court in Los Angeles, Holly Ricketson alleged she purchased a “Wicked” doll for her daughter, who accessed an adult entertainment website via a link provided by the toy maker. Ricketson stated her daughter showed her explicit photographs from the website, leaving them both “horrified” and emotionally distressed.
Variety reported on the lawsuit and included a link to the PDF document.
Update kudos: Daryl G.
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