'Trolls World Tour' doll discontinued after video of Hasbro toy making 'disturbing sexual sounds' goes viral
Toy company Hasbro is removing ‘Trolls World Tour’ doll from shelves after a video went viral showing the toy-making “sexual sounds”. The video was shared by US politician Sam Parker, in which a horrified mother can be heard demonstrating the inappropriate features of the doll.
The identity of the US mother is not known but in the video, she said that Hasbro’s Trolls World Tour Giggle and Sing Poppy doll was bought for her two-year-old daughter’s birthday. She was shocked after finding a button between the legs of the doll, which when pressed made “gasping” noises.
In the video shared widely on social media, the mother said: “I heard some other sounds that I had never heard before, and if you look, down here, I figured video was the best way... but down here is a button, right here on her privates, and if you push those she makes these sounds. Like, a gasping sounds, and I know many of you might not think this is a big deal but, especially since I've had kids, this is wrong. This button, it says nothing about this button on the box. Nothing, it's just there and it makes a gasping sound when you touch her privates, and to me, it's sexual sounds. It's so disturbing.”
Is @Hasbro normalizing grooming & facilitating child abuse? 🤔👇
— Sam Parker 🇺🇲 (@SamParkerSenate) August 5, 2020
👀 pic.twitter.com/Q258vsGqcC
Parker has captioned the Twitter video, “Is @Hasbro normalizing grooming and facilitating child abuse?” It has garnered more than 12,000 retweets and comments, with one writing, “This is insane. Who thought this was a good product design??”
Another user said, “WTF is wrong with @Hasbro This is very disturbing and sick. It is not a mistake. I hope you go out of business".
WTF is wrong with @Hasbro
— Richard (@littlerichard81) August 7, 2020
This is very disturbing and sick. It is not a mistake. I hope you go out of business https://t.co/CCBUihbbMb
A third user added: “Be careful what you let your children play with or watch on TV. They are indoctrination your children!”
This is insane. Who thought this was a good product design?? https://t.co/md1hMJiQbL
— Natasha Dubeansky (@NDubeansky) August 7, 2020
Be careful what you let your children play with or watch on TV. They are indoctrination your children! https://t.co/zwDrEnXPmy
— PatchouliChildOfLightelf (@q_patchouli) August 7, 2020
The “disturbing” doll has now been pulled from the shelves after another woman, named Jessica McManis, started an online petition on Change.org. The message on the petition page that has received over 270,000 signatures read: “Our society is conditioning our children to think pedophilia is ok. This Trolls World Tour doll named Poppy has a button on her private area under her skirt. When you push this button on the doll’s private she gasps and giggles. This is not okay for a child’s toy!
“This toy needs to be removed from our stores. What will this toy make our innocent, impressionable children think? That it’s fun when someone touches your private area? That pedophilia and child molestation are ok? It’s not ok! It’s not fun! It’s damaging and has long term affects on a child’s mental/physical health! Sign this petition to get this toy removed from shelves and help #SaveTheChildren! Children are our future and WE are their voice!”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the toymaker, Julie Duffy, issued a statement, saying, “This feature was designed to react when the doll was seated, but we recognize the placement of the sensor may be perceived as inappropriate. This was not intentional and we are happy to provide consumers with a replacement Poppy doll of similar value through our consumer care team. We are in the process of removing the item for purchase.”