Opinion: Doll maker decides dolls of Obama girls no longer ‘marvelous’
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To hear Ty Warner tell it, the ‘Marvelous Malia’ and ‘Sweet Sasha’ dolls were never intended to resemble the daughters of President Obama. Surely it was a coincidence that the president’s girls also happen to be named Malia and Sasha.
Warner is chief executive of the Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ty Inc., the same company that brought the world beanie babies. Initially, Warner said the names were inspired by what he called ‘this historic time in our nation’s history.’
The White House, however, did not find the dolls sweet—and certainly not marvelous.
‘We feel it is inappropriate to use young, private citizens for marketing purposes,’ Katie McCormick Lelyveld, press secretary to First Lady Michelle Obama, said in a statement last month.
Today, Lelyveld had kinder words after the company announced that it would rename the dolls—the company website says they have been ‘retired’ — and donate profits from the sales of the original dolls to charity. ‘We appreciate the company’s response to this matter,’ Lelyveld said.
For the record, the new names are ‘Marvelous Mariah’ and ‘Sweet Sydney.’
-- Steve Padilla
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