I would like to see a good old fashioned firestorm over this one. It's about time Freepers got back to freeping and this is a perfect opportunity.
American Girl Doll response (note the contact info below):
To whom it may concern:
I hope that in the future American Girl researches it's charities and
organizations it affiliates itself with a little better. I am shocked
that American Girl would be associated with Girl's Inc and it's agenda.
I don't want my daughter to be introduced to questioning her identity, abortion issues, and an obvious political agenda namely lobbying against abstinence programs. This offends me and my family's religious convictions.
I believe it would also offend many of your other customers as well. I am organizing a boycott of your company and it's upcoming movie if this "I can" bracelet is not removed from your website and magazine.
Here is the response from the American Girl Company:
Thank you for your letter expressing your disappointment with American Girl's affiliation with Girls Inc. We appreciate you allowing us the opportunity to address your concerns about this issue.
Our goal with the "I CAN" program is to celebrate and encourage the individual qualities, talents, and dreams that every American girl possesses. In addition, we made it a cause-related effort to help reinforce the idea that helping others achieve is also an important part of life.
The donations from American Girl to Girls, Inc. are earmarked specifically to support their work in the areas of intellectual development, leadership, and sports programs, including:
- Girls Inc. Operation SMART®, which builds girls? skills in science, math and technology - Girls Inc. Discovery Leadership®, which develops leadership skills and community awareness
- Girls Inc. Sporting Chance®, which encourages athletic skills, cooperative and competitive spirit, and an interest in sports participation.
We chose Girls Inc. as our benefit partner because of their strong focus and commitment to help millions of girls realize their potential in these fields. American Girl believes that the girls we serve and support today will be the women who make a difference tomorrow. Our support of these three Girls Inc. programs allows us to have an even greater impact on today's girls, particularly those in high-risk, underserved areas.
We hope this information helps provide a better understanding of our affiliation with Girls Inc. Please be assured that we have noted your comments, and again, thank you for sharing your concerns.
Sincerely,
American Girl® Customer Service
Phone: 1-800-845-0005 or 608-831-5210
Fax: 608-828-4790
Available Monday - Sunday 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. Central Time
Please ping me when you get that. We have three girls and HAD been buying that stuff.
The founder of the Company is a woman named Pleasant Rowland (IIRC) of a town near Madison, WI.
She sold The Pleasant Company (American Girl) to Mattel a few years ago.
The American Girl books are really a positve series for elementary aged girls. Each book, and its corresponding doll, covers a different period in history (from Colonial time on). My daughter is 20, and she was a fan of the series. She loved Molly.
Please don't disparage the series on innuendo.