Ty Inc., the company that makes Beanie Babies, made two dolls named Sweet Sasha and Marvelous Malia. A spokeswoman for the company claims that “there’s nothing on the girls that refers to the Obama girls" and that “It would not be fair to say they are exact replications of these girls.” The company says this despite the fact that the two dolls, Sweet Sasha and Marvelous Malia, are slender brown skinned and brown eyed dolls that look like the 7 and 10 year old daughters who have just moved into the White House. In a statement that Michelle Obama's press secretary made, she said “We feel it is inappropriate to use young, private citizens for marketing purposes.” I can understand why Michelle Obama would not like how they have made dolls resembling her daughters. This just shows how much Sasha and Malia have been exposed to the public during the election process. I think the company should just admit that these dolls are made to be Sasha and Malia, since the dolls have the same names and resemble them. It can't be a coincidence. Do you think the company should be allowed to make dolls that resemble the Obama daughters and do you think it's appropriate?
5 comments:
I think that if the company obtains the Obamas' consent then that is ok, but saying that they aren't the Obama kids is just a lie. Two unique names like Sasha and Malia right after the inauguration, how obvious can you get?
I also heard that these are the only two black dolls as well...
No...I think it's kind of funny that the company is trying to deny that the dolls somehow don't resemble the Obama children...you don't really come across names like Sasha and Malia, and would it just be a coincidence that these kids showed up on national television for the inauguration of their father as the next president? According to other articles I read, the company didn't get permission from the Obamas. Many people might not think that it's that big of a deal, but the company is basically using these two children for their own monetary gain and profit. Although it's kind of cool to have dolls named and modeled after you, it's a little bit twisted, and Michelle Obama spoke out against it saying that she found it "inappropriate"
So that is just weird. Personally, I think that TY or whatever company made the dolls has the right to make them if they are not claiming them to be Sasha and Malia. However, i think it is wrong that they obviously based them on Sasha and Malia. They could of been a little more subtle and named them something different. As for Michelle Obama, i thinks its okay for her to complain, but as the President's daughters Sasha and Malia are going to be thrust into the public spotlight and she needs to learn to deal with these "doll" issues because there are probably going to be a lot of them.
When did Beanie Babies stop making animal beanie babies?
As for the company's "claims," either they're really stupid or they must think the whole country is really, really stupid. Ick.
But man, have they no sense of decency? Think how hard it must be to be a part of the Obama family. Barack has been actively traveling and campaigning all over the country for two years, and Michelle has also been doing her fair share of campaigning for him as well during the last few months. And now they've had to leave their hometown and their friends, live in a Washington, DC hotel for a few weeks, and have now moved into the White House. They have Secret Service protection on them 24/7. They don't get to live normal lives as they grow up during their teenage years. Granted, their parents are smart and they're not letting them get spoiled by the fact that they're essentially living in a big mansion. But man, I can't think of a more nightmarish life to have where people are putting my picture on T-shirts that they're selling for profit, where news organizations are photographing me as I'm going to school and broadcasting to the world what I'm eating for lunch, and now where TY thinks it can use my own image without my family's permission to market dolls AND THEN LIE ABOUT THEIR INTENTIONS.
Sasha and Malia have already had to go through so much over the past two years and will have much more to live through over the next eight. Can't we just be a responsible society and focus our attention on the important things? No, of course not. This is America dammit, where the only value that matters to us is making money by exploiting any idea we can come up with, no matter how cruel.
Somebody help us.
While I do think that this is lame, and even more pointless (does the kind of very young child who would buy/ be bought these dolls give a darn if they have the same names as the President's daughters?) I think that the company's argument wasn't so much that the dolls weren't supposed to BE the Obama children, but rather, legally, there isn't anything on the dolls that can be said to prove that they represent the girls. Just names, and names are made up. I'm not arguing for them, I'm just clearing that up. for the record I think it was a scummy thing to do.
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