When Mattel gets the domain name wrong on Wicked doll packaging
The domain name displayed on the boxes of dolls inspired by the film Wicked indicates the address of a pornographic site instead of the film’s website.
On Wednesday December 4, the film Wicked will be released in France. It stars actresses Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. The film is an adaptation of a Broadway musical also inspired by The Wizard of Oz.
The film, already released in the U.S., has been heavily marketed. Numerous derivative products were marketed, including dolls from Mattel.
The American company specializing in toys and games made a mistake in the Internet address shown on the packaging of dolls featuring the film’s heroines.
Mattel printed the domain name wicked.com instead of the film’s official website, wickedmovie.com.
Wicked dolls with a wicked domain name
Unfortunately, wicked.com is the website of California-based pornographic production studio Wicked Pictures. The website features adult parody films.
So it’s not the same kind of cinema!
Domain name wicked.com mistakenly printed by Mattel on Wicked dolls
Mattel then apologized: ” Mattel has been notified of the printing error on the boxes of the Wicked doll collection, sold mainly in the United States, which should direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com page “.
In its press release, Mattel states: “ We deeply regret this unfortunate error and are taking immediate action to rectify it. We advise buyers who already have the product to throw away the packaging or hide the link. “.
This kind of printed domain name error remains rare, especially on this scale.
Nevertheless, the presence of adult sites on product packaging happens more frequently with the right domain name!
In fact, this type of case more often concerns expired domain names. The owner of the domain name displayed on a packaging does not renew it. A third party then takes it over and posts pornographic content.