A porn website is receiving its biggest visitor count in 12 years after being accidentally featured on the back of Mattel’s new line of Wicked dolls.
Ahead of the film’s premiere on 22 November, Mattel launched a line of limited-edition dolls inspired by the stars’ portrayal of the characters originally created by Gregory Maguire.
The famed toy conglomerate was forced to pull the line of toys after one shopper took to X to show an NSFW box error found on a Glinda toy displayed in-store.
On 9 November, Sarah Genao posted side-by-side images of the Glinda toy package, front and back, with the caption: “The official Mattel Wicked dolls link to a porn site on the box.”
A close-up of the back of the green box showed a link for “www.wicked.com” pasted next to the barcode. When typed into a search engine, the URL sends you to an age-restricted website that says you must be 18 or older to view the content uploaded.
According to its website, Wicked Pictures was established in California in 1993, and has “a firm commitment to producing quality parody porn movies”.
Now, a report by Variety states that, according to Google Trends analytics, searches for the misprinted URL have hit their highest levels since mid-2012.
Fans online have surmised that the packaging likely meant to direct buyers to “www.wickedmovie.com” – the film’s official website presented by Partners.
In a statement sent to The Independent, a representative for Mattel explained the company was aware of the label misprint.
“Mattel was made aware of a misprint on the packaging of the Mattel Wicked collection dolls, primarily sold in the US, which intended to direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com landing page. We deeply regret this unfortunate error and are taking immediate action to remedy this,” the statement read.
“Parents are advised that the misprinted, incorrect website is not appropriate for children. Consumers who already have the product are advised to discard the product packaging or obscure the link and may contact Mattel Customer Service for further information.”
Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble and Macy’s all removed their line of Wicked dolls from online storefronts on Monday, according to CNBC. The dolls with the misprinted labels, originally priced between $20 (£15) and $40 (£31), were seen on sale on eBay for prices between $40 and $2,100 (£1,637).
Wicked stars Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba.
