Talking doll’s message a surpise to buyers

A South Carolina woman went to Wal-Mart to buy a doll for her daughters for Christmas, but what she ended up with was one that says “Islam is the light.”

Jennifer Calandra of Burton, S.C., bought the Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo doll for her 5-year-old and 7-year-old daughters.

She said she thought she was going crazy when she first heard the phrase. She exchanged the $20 doll, thinking it could be a malfunction. The second doll said the same thing.

Calandra is not the first to hear the seemingly subliminal message. Reports began popping up around the country this fall. Some claim the dolls also say, “Satan is king.”

Moms Ask Mattel for Accountability, a group geared toward preventing children from being invited to join Islam unknowingly, launched a campaign to remove the Mattel Fisher-Price Toys dolls from store shelves.

“It’s not really something you want to hear coming from a doll,” Calandra said. “I had to tell my kids they wouldn’t get a baby doll for Christmas because it said bad things.”

She said it has sparked questions from her 7-year-old about religious tolerance.

“I’m not sure how to talk to them about these things yet,” Calandra said. “The statement in itself isn’t a bad thing. It’s someone’s opinion. It’s that it’s snuck in a doll’s soundtrack.”