Our First Lady has a problem with Ty - and so do I!

[AZBlue]

They’ve been in the White House less than a week, but the first daughters have already been co-opted by marketers — and Michelle Obama isn’t happy about it.

Ty, the toy company responsible for the popular Beanie Babies dolls, is now marketing “Sweet Sasha” and “Marvelous Malia” dolls.

The first lady’s office said Friday Ty was out of line. “We feel it is inappropriate to use your private citizens for marketing purposes,” said a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama in a statement.



http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/23/michelle-obama-inappropriate-to-use-daughters-to-sell-dolls/



Not only is this completely wrong, but the two dolls are identical - they just put slightly different hair on them. It's a cheap and obvious exploitation of those two precious little girls and I don't like it. When I first saw it the dolls annoyed me but the more I thought about it the more I realized this kind of thing is exactly what the Obamas have fought against and needs to be addressed. Sure, the girls lives have changed permanently now, but doesn't mean Ty has the right to shamelessly cash in on them and in such a crude way.

So I contacted Ty. If you'd also prefer that they leave the girls alone, join me:
http://www.ty.com/Talk2Ty_contactus
Ty Inc., Complaints Dept, PO Box 5377, Oakbrook, IL 60522
800-876-1000

Thanks! :D

[rwheeler31]

1. Good call how can we stop this?

[jillan]

2. Done.

Just curious, did the Ty corp come out with a Jenna and Barbara doll?

This just really bothers me, thick lips and all.

What were they thinking?

[Name removed]

6. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jmowreader]

9. No...

it's hard to make an identifiable vodka bottle out of beanie baby fabric.

[cali]

10. Jenna and Barbara weren't cute little girls

they'd already graduated from HS when their father was installed in the White House.

[EFerrari]

13. I can't find any dolls in their image but look at this:

Poor kids!

[cali]

17. yowza. the twisted in me wants a pair of george and laura dolls.

[EFerrari]

20. I love the way George is made to look slightly confused. Very realistic!

lol

[whistler162]

32. And he is likely anatomically correct!

[Dogmudgeon]

3. Clever, those Ty marketers

They knew the Obamas would object.

Result: A limited number of dolls worth a thousand bucks a piece, most of which are still held by Ty. Selected stockholders would then be permitted to "liquidate" the "overage".

--p!

[Alcibiades]

19. Yep!

My first thought, too. A lame attempt to stay relevant after the bursting of the beanie bubble.

[Fireweed247]

35. they are already selling for $129.99 on amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Ty-02231-Marvelous-Malia/dp/B001QGUJBW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1232858408&sr=8-1

[stuntcat]

4. did it

I wouldn't be quite so affected by this if the dolls didn't have boobs. Or maybe if they looked ANYTHING like Sasha and Malia. They just look like those scary shopper dolls they're marketing to kids :puke:

[AZBlue]

8. You're right - apparently Ty thinks the girls are 20-year old curvaceous twins.

Are we just supposed to be relieved that they aren't showing a lot of skin?

[soothsayer]

5. they look hawaiian to me

[ColbertWatcher]

7. Damn sue their asses. n/t

[Lyric]

11. Screw TY. The way that company manipulates rarities is disgusting.

And that is EXACTLY what this is: a ploy to turn what would have been relatively inexpensive toy dolls into BIG $$$$$$ because only a handful will exist--and then they get to blame THAT on Michelle Obama.

Frankly, I hope the Obamas insist on being given all of the dolls for the original price, and then destroy them--giving them out to needy kids would be a nice thought, but it would just help to create a black market for them, and keep the TY craze alive.

[EFerrari]

12. Here are some of the previous artefacts in the image of 1st Kids:

(this last one is supposed to be Chelsea Clinton)

[TheDoorbellRang]

15. Just touch with the wand and the clothes stay on!?!?!?

:wtf:

Looks like tackiness has been around for a while.

Someone needs to come up with something tasteful to counteract -- we need a modern day teddy bear.

[EFerrari]

16. It was probably a set of color forms -- they were pretty new at the time.

[asdjrocky]

22. Oh man, I had that one. It was my favorite toy for a long time.

[EFerrari]

23. For a while, we collected old toys. It was so much fun!

I think I had a Rocky and Bullwinkle colorform set that I played with. Colorforms were HUGE for a while. :)

[pink-o]

24. I had Paper dolls with the wand when I was a kid!

It wasn't Jackie and Caroline, though. Stupid dolls had pre-velcro type tacky backing on the paper clothes that stayed on the form without those bend-down tabs. You were supposed to be idiotic enough to wave the wand across the clothes and be amazed that they stayed on BY MAGIC.

Man, how much am I showing my age (it's 54 and I will declared it without shame :toast: ). If someone never had those paper dolls, I get why it seems so completely out in left field. But remember, we used mimiograph machines and carbon paper to copy documents back then too!

So all y'all's with your Teddy Ruxpins growing up, go ahead. Laugh your asses off!!!

[pamela]

31. I have those Richard Nixon paper dolls.

I have the Tom Tierney JFK and family paper dolls, too.

[Barack_America]

14. And the dolls are made in China. nt

[wildeyed]

18. Exploiting little girls for financial gain. Yuck.

I have a little girl myself, same age as Sasha, who will never be playing with a Ty product if I have anything to do with it.

[EFerrari]

21. You guys are going to hate this but imho, Michelle would be further ahead

to help design the dolls (which will be made no matter what anyway), make them "authorized" and in exchange, get a portion of the proceeds go to helping the military families she wants to work with. That way, everyone is happy. The entrepreneurs, the public who wants the dolls, her family and her project. And the girls can know that "their" dolls are doing something good, too. :shrug:

[pleah]

25. I think that is a great idea.

Everyone wins situation. :) As you said they "will be made no matter what".

[Raine1967]

27. I don't hate you...

I think you make a really good point. This was going to happen -- I understand Ms. Obama being against it and the reasons why she is... but this WAS going to happen...

It would have been great for her to have had some control over this. TY took that away...

And those dolls just look, well... Jeepers... Did someone say make the fabric look brown? *Yes? Good call it Sasha and Malia* It is a bit insulting to the girls.

[EFerrari]

30. Someone did it quick and dumb. Or, maybe not so dumb because they will sell. n/t

[psychmommy]

28. i think you are right, unfortunately,

then she will be accused of commercializing her daughters. she really can't win. she needs to go into momma bear mode and just protect her babies.

[EFerrari]

29. She's going to be accused of something anyway.

If they don't gain in $, she might as well have some control and some benefit for her projects. But, that's just my .02.

[AZBlue]

34. That would be better and had Ty reached out to her I bet she might have done that.

I can't say for sure obviously, but from everything we've seen it seems like maybe that would have been ok with her. It's a great idea!

[Love Bug]

26. The dolls are cute, but exploitive.

[Texasgal]

33. I distinctly remember having an

Amy Carter doll. She was incased in a plastic peanut shell. :) Lot's of girls my age had Amy Carter stuff. I believe she even had a barbie doll of her likeness.

:shrug: I don't see what the big deal is.