Posted on 08/17/2009 3:02:49 PM PDT by South40
"Lil' Monkey Doll
LOS ANGELES -- Costco has pulled a controversial doll from its shelves after customers complained it was racist.
The doll is called 'Cuddle with Me" manufactured by BrassKey Keepsakes. It's the headband that is causing the controversy. It reads "Lil' Monkey." The doll is also surrounded by stuffed monkeys. The white doll counterpart on store shelves is surrounded by pandas, with a hat that reads 'Pretty Panda.'
Mary Gustoff, CEO of Brasskey Keepsakes, said the company has apologized for the mistake, and never intended it to be racist.
"It's so unfortunate because now it's portrayed as a purposeful act to be disrespectful and that's not true. We really apologize. We don't think in that way. We don't operate in that kind of thinking. We have a really diverse, family operated company that's been around for 28 years. What would we have to gain for heaven's sake?"
Costco is also apologizing for the mistake.
Many customers complained the doll was a reference to the term "monkey" which has been used in the past by racists to denegrate African Americans.
That’s bad. Funny, but bad.
I’m glad I wasn’t drinking when I saw that...
Go to South Dallas and see if you can see the transparency of that statement....oh I mis spoke that's not transparency!
RE: “I thought monkey was a term they used for Bush”
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It was the chimp or chimpy — eight years of that chimp talk but they, that was perfectly fine!
These leftists are SO thin-skinned — they can’t stand a little doll? And why not just take off the headbands if that’s what’s supposedly offensive?
Dark skinned dolls have been sold for decades now — BFD
I have a PhotoBucket site and just had an Obama Clown image removed citing that it is against their ‘rules’ - whatever!
Perhaps, lol, because he was wearing a Brown-shirt Hitler outfit!
Re: “Name the white baby Lil Honkey! That should fix it.”
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How about ‘cracker?’ I like cracker as well as honkey!
The professional PC police can definitely go really off the deep end stretching to find racism (or any other ism) in the most ridiculous places sometimes, but I have got to wonder if Costco's toy buyer is blind as a bat (speaking of animal analogies) to have signed the purchase order for these.
No one can tell me that the whole company was oblivious to this! Who was the “genius” who thought that the black doll should be “lil monkey”? Sheesh! It is offensive. No one ought to lose sleep over this... but yes I can see how it is offensive.
LOL! Never heard the Muhammad Ali one.... looking it up.
It is all about context. Put the black doll with pandas and the white doll with monkeys; perfectly OK. Make a white doll eating watermelon and a black doll eating an ear of corn is perfectly acceptable, switching the two is not.
The doll should definitely be labeled “Lil Future Community Organizer” and who could be offended by that?
I’m not even sure what you’re trying to say. Unless you’re trying to complain about the “you can always hit your own group” exception, but that exception has been around forever and doesn’t just apply to black people.
The Chinese are very racist. You should hear the things they would say about black people in Chinese.
You owe me a new keyboard.
Re: “Lemme` guess,
Made in China?”
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Without a doubt, made in China! You should’ve seen the toothpaste I saw in a store in Hong Kong back in the eighties. “Darkie” — that was the brand name. I still remember the cartoon character on the box............
Oh, good grief. What next...
But - it’s surrounded with monkeys, on the bib and perhaps even the clothes, not just the headband.
ping
Re: “That’s bad. Funny, but bad.”
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Geez, how’d he DO that, anyway? Yes, bad, but hilarious.
They probably will just remove the headband and repackage it. But that’s not the retailer’s job, that manufacturer/ distributor’s job. Which is why they’re getting taken off the shelves and sent back.
This one was pretty dumb. I’m sure at least half the grunt workers involved in getting this thing to market were shaking their heads, it’s the guys at the top that always have the hard time thinking things through.
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