Doll comes with an Islamic message
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CuddleCoo Islam Doll
CuddleCoo Islam Doll
William White | Opelika-Auburn News
Amber Meacham, 27, and her 2-year-old daughter, Kirsten, got a surprise when they bought a new doll.
Staff Writer
Published: November 5, 2008
Updated: November 5, 2008
What should have amounted to child’s play ended up as no laughing matter for one Beauregard family Wednesday afternoon after a trip to an Opelika store.
On a recent shopping trip, Amber Meacham, 27, and her 2-year-old daughter, Kirsten, purchased a Little Mommy Cuddle & Coo doll made by the Fisher-Price Company.
When cuddled, the doll makes a number of audible cuddles and coos, but the doll Meacham purchased has another unique phrase in its literary repertoire.
The doll can be heard saying what sounds like “Islam is the light.”
The doll’s packaging makes no reference to any religious affiliation or content.
Meacham contacted the Opelika Target store where she made the purchase to talk to managers. She asked them to pull the product from their store shelves, something Meacham says they said they would not do that without a recall notice from the doll’s manufacturer. A manager at the Opelika store and a customer service representative who answered a corporate office number told the Opelika-Auburn News that a recall from the manufacturer is required to pull any product.
Meacham then contacted Fisher-Price’s parent company, Mattel, Inc., and spoke with a company representative that documented her concerns and informed her that she was not the only consumer that had contacted the company with similar concerns about that particular doll.
A phone call to the Mattel Company made by the Opelika-Auburn News Wednesday afternoon netted an automated voice message response.
Meacham and her husband Paul are Christians, but say they respect others rights to choose their own faiths as they would like to have the right to raise their daughter in the faith they so choose respected.
“I was told that there was a bad chip in the dolls that made them speak as they did, but the stores I have contacted still won’t pull the existing dolls from their shelves,” said Meacham. “The doll should only coo and say mama.”
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Reader Reactions
The doll really do’es say “islam is the light.“ WalMart stores in Alexander City, Oxford and Jacksonville pulled them from the store shelves when this was brought to managments attention, not for reason of predudice, but rather underhanded marketing by the toy industry,(I know because I checked) I live in Anniston. Mistake or not, the doll says that phrase and either the chip needs to be recalled or the package needs to be labled with what the doll says,so people who do not know don’t make the same mistake I almost did in getting this doll for my three year old granddaughter (who by the way is not islamic). If it were a doll that said Jesus is the Light, it would in my opinion need to be marketed as such as not to offend muslims that would not know of that phrase. I do not believe that the folks posting there “so what” attatude here would be as “so what” as they would have the rest of the world believe they are.
What moron at the paper wrote this story and what brainless editor approved it? Do the writers at this paper have a degree in journalism or even a high school diploma? It would appear the answer is no.
If the doll had said something like “All whites/blacks must DIE” do you think that maybe the company would have pulled the doll immediately??? It is amazing to me that some people in this country are so agaist their own!
Take this stupid story down. I already showed the link to the video that proves this is just an internet urban legend.
OA NEWS=National Enquirer
It sounds to me like Fisher price is tryin to cover the a fact that they may have one like it comeing out and the mechenism got mixed up with these when making them. They have every right to make a doll like that, however it needs to be labled. Im a christian, and dont want to buy this doll for any child I would be buying it for, but someone else might. It needs to be labled correctly or pulled from the self.
You can watch the youtube video here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRXKkc3fqd0
Anyone with a modicum of sense can tell the baby is just babbling. This is just one more example of someone creating a reactionary rumor that grows legs. And leave it to the OA News to report the rumor, not the truth. All they had to do was fire up youtube to see that it was an urban legend.
I listened to this, and if I had heard it before someone else suggested what it said, I would not have picked that up. The only sure way to find out, is to record it, slow it down, and you should be able to figure out what it says. Lets not be so eager to find something that is not there.
It’s a sad day when THIS is a news story! This country is all about freedom to be who you want to be & practice what religion you want to practice & buy & return what toys you want! Personally, I can only make out “Islam is the light” b/c this newspaper printed that is what the consumer thought it said. Other than that, it sounded like a cooing baby. If you don’t like the doll, take it back! You can get a refund with a receipt! This country needs to focus more on the REAL issues at hand.
What I am wondering is why is this not a big deal? Perhaps it did say “Jesus is the light” then I am sure it would have even more press because someone would say it went against the constitution or something like that. It would also have to say it has a religous affiliation on the box!! This doll does not have that at all and it should if all you people want it to be politically correct!!! Furthermore yes I am sure that if it said Jesus is the light then it would have been written on the box!! So these dolls should be re-called and if they are to be re-sold then they should do so under the correct label!
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