Miami company pulling candy bags with toy depicting 9-11 attack

AP Wire (direct feed) | August 27, 2004

[NYer]

MIAMI (AP) _ Small toys showing an airplane flying into the World Trade Center were packed inside more than 14,000 bags of candy and sent to small groceries around the country before being recalled.

Lisy Corp., the wholesaler that distributed the candy, said Friday that the toys were purchased in bulk from a Miami-based import company. The toys came in an assortment purchased sight unseen from L&M Import in Miami and included the toys depicting the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the twin towers, whistles and other small toys, said Luis Pedron, Lisy's national sales manager. The invoice said the toy was a plastic swing set. ``I hate to blame the importer. He probably did not know what he was getting. He brings them in 40-foot containers. But whoever made it knew exactly what they were making,'' Pedron said.

Pedron said Lisy did not notice the small plastic figurines until two people complained, but there is no mistaking what the toys represent: At the bottom of each is the product number 9011. ``When we found out what happened, we recalled them immediately,'' said Pedron, who said the toys do not reflect the company's view. ``I was offended by them.''

The company's 100 distributors sent out the candy bags. Most are sold to small Hispanic and Mexican groceries, Pedron said. He estimated about 90 percent of the bags have been collected.

Anna Rodriguez, who bought a bag of the candy for her grandson, said she was stunned when she saw the toy. ``It makes me angry,'' she told television station WFTV. ``I was offended because I couldn't believe that someone would give something like that to a kid.''

Pedron said he is saving the toys to return to the distributor. A woman who answered the telephone at L&M and refused to give her name said Friday she did not know anything about the toy.

[NYer]

The big, unanswered question would be - WHO manufacturered these terrorist toys?

[united1000]

Toy In Candy Bag Appears To Depict 9/11 Attack

POSTED: 4:43 pm EDT August 26, 2004

UPDATED: 6:55 am EDT August 27, 2004

PHOTOS: See Images Of The Controversial Toy

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A bag of candy shocked a local grandmother and will most likely shock you. The toy inside looks like a plane flying right into the Twin Towers. Now, that toy is off some local store shelves because of our story.

MORE IMAGES OF TOY

It doesn't stop there, though. That grandmother was surprised, again, when she read the numbers imprinted on the toy.

Until Thursday afternoon, the little toys were on sale to kids around Central Florida -- two towers with a jetliner in between that appears to be crashing into one of the buildings. They come in packages along with candy.

We talked to a grandmother who couldn't believe what she'd inadvertently bought for her grandson.

 

"It makes me angry," Anna Rodriguez says. "I was offended because I couldn't believe that someone would give something like that to a kid."

When Rodriguez let her grandson pick out a bag of toys and candy, she never realized what was inside until her own son noticed the disturbing toy.

"[He said] look at the toy. I said, 'Let me see it,' and when I looked at it I was outraged. I was like, what? No way," Rodriguez says.

She purchased the toy at a local grocery store. We found more packages still hanging on the candy rack. The storeowners were appalled when they saw what a distributor for Lisy Corporation, based in Miami, brought to their store. The store pulled the bags from the shelf Thursday.

Rodriguez has pictures of the Twin Towers in her living room to remember the victims of 9/11. She says there is no mistake what the toy represents, especially when you look at the product number on every single toy: 9011.

"Everybody knows it's about the twin towers and it's nothing to be joking around about," says Rodriguez. She believes someone out there did it on purpose. "Whoever did this knew what they were doing, they definitely knew."

A company called Lisy Corporation distributes the candy bags. They said they are also offended by the toy and have pulled 17,000 of the toys.

Lisy says they bought the toys, sight unseen, from L and M Import/Export of Miami. We talked to L and M and they say they have no problem at all with the toy and don't consider it offensive at all.

We even pointed out to the import company that every single toy has a stock number on the front that reads "9011." L and M Imports didn't find it all coincidental and said it's just a toy. Asked if they'd talk on camera, they said there is nothing to talk about.

Fortunately, the product is being pulled from the shelves here in Florida.

Copyright 2004 by wftv.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[HHFi]

I'd guess Muslims, but that would make me a bigot.

[stands2reason]

This is nuts...

[Diddle E. Squat]

Lisy says they bought the toys, sight unseen, from L and M Import/Export of Miami. We talked to L and M and they say they have no problem at all with the toy and don't consider it offensive at all. We even pointed out to the import company that every single toy has a stock number on the front that reads "9011." L and M Imports didn't find it all coincidental and said it's just a toy. Asked if they'd talk on camera, they said there is nothing to talk about.

[united1000]

I just realized the copyright on the bottom of this, I should have just put the link. I guess this needs to be pulled, sorry.

[MediaMole]

Do a google on lisy corp. They seem to have a history of "unfortunate problems" with their products.

undeclared sulfites

lead in their candy wrappers.

salmonella in their ground cumin.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Well since L and M Import/Export of Miami says the toys are not a problem, the blame game extends to them, and they appear to be covering for the manufacturer.

[mewzilla]

Can anyone find anything on this L&M on the web? I can't.

[Sans-Culotte]

I'm not sure what to make of it. It could be a coincidence, like the Subway non-story that allegedly reminded some of 9-11. The toy has such an art deco appearance it looks like some kind of nostalgia toy, or maybe one to tie in with that new Jude Law movie. If all their toys use 9011 as some sort of all-purpose SKU, then the # is not an issue.

I would like to know more about the company, though.

[atomicpossum]

China. So much cheap little plastic things are cranked out in China, I'd bet it comes out of there.

[3AngelaD]

The lead-lined lollies were made in Mexico. We still don't know where the Twin Towers toy was manufactured. The reporters and editors sure fell down on the job here. Didn't anyone at AP wonder where the hell these things were made?

[Diddle E. Squat]

There is an L & M Wholesalers, L & M Produce, and L & M Companies on a search of "L & M" (use ampersand, not 'and') "import" and "miami".

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&as_qdr=all&q=+%22L+%26+M%22+import+miami&btnG=Search

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:omYReIrcACAJ:vegetables.tradeworlds.com/web_category_4454.html++%22L+%26+M%22+import+miami&hl=en


Several Florida listings and 1 in Raleigh, NC:

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:i9Tjyt1iaY8J:www.florida-agriculture.com/bond/License_Bond/fruitveg.txt++%22L+%26+M%22+import+miami&hl=en

[mewzilla]

Thanks :) There's an L&M car rental company, too. Hope the local journos do some digging.

[mewzilla]

Click here for Newsday's take. From the article:

A woman who answered the telephone at L&M and refused to give her name said Friday she did not know anything about the toy.

Someone's got their phone number at any rate.

[Diddle E. Squat]

May or may not be them: L&M Companies, Inc.

I get a blank green screen, but I'm also using Firefox, which has trouble with displaying some websites.

[Homo_homini_lupus]

The link you posted is for a company that sells produce. Sorry! Try again!

[Jaysun]

Lisy Corp., the wholesaler that distributed the candy, said Friday that the toys were purchased in bulk from a Miami-based import company.

Who in hell hell would make such a thing to begin with?

[Jaysun]

Ooops....

Who in hell hell would make such a thing to begin with?

[I still care]

Perhaps a company that caters to children in Muslim countries?

They hate us over there far more than people here realize. They passed out candy in the street to the kids on 9/11. They are breeding a generation of monsters, and people here are clueless about it.