Wicked: Mattel in damage control as toy doll packaging mishap sends children to pornography website

Well, that was awkward.

Mattel have been forced to apologise after children were directed to the web address for a pornography site.

The toymaker has manufactured some of the merchandising tie-ins for the upcoming Wicked movie adaptation, including a raft of dolls based on the main characters including Elphaba and Galinda.

The packaging included the website URL for the film but instead of wickedmovie.com, it printed wicked.com. The latter is a pornography site.

Mattel said in a statement, “We deeply regret this unfortunate error and are taking immediate action to remedy this. Parents are advised that the misprinted, incorrect website is not appropriate for children”.

The offending products were sold primarily in the US and were available through the American Target stores but had been pulled from shelves, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The toy company advised parents to throw away the packaging and to contact the Mattel customer service line if they needed further information.

Wicked is adapted from the hit Broadway musical, itself inspired by the revisionist fiction novel by Gregory Maguire. The story is centred on Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West from L. Frank Baum’s novels which was adapted into the 1939 film starring Judy Garland.

In Wicked, Elphaba is a young woman with extraordinary magical talents but has been the subject of mistrust and scorn due to her green appearance. She arrives at university and meets Galinda, who will become the Glinda the Good.

The film stars Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey and Jeff Goldblum. It was directed by Crazy Rich Asians helmer Jon M. Chu.

The story was split into two movies and Part One, which is released in Australia on November 21, will take it up to where the stage production brings down the curtains for the intermission, after its signature song, “Defying Gravity”.

The Broadway musical opened 2003 and has sold more than $US1 billion in tickets. Maguire’s book was published in 1995 and spawned three sequels while he has plans for a fifth tome.