Ty Inc., the creator of Beanie Babies, has unveiled a new pair of dolls in its TyGirlz line. Because the names are beautiful, and for no other reason, Ty has named the dolls "Malia" and "Sasha." Right. I have a bridge to sell you.
After all, the dolls, which sell for $9.99, are named "Marvelous Malia" and "Sweet Sasha." Tania Lundeen, Ty senior vice president of sales told AP:
"There's nothing on the dolls that refers to the Obama girls. It would not be fair to say they are exact replications of these girls. They are not."
Of course not. And the fact that the TyGirlz collection also includes dolls named Lindsay, Britney, Paris, and Hillary is strictly a coincidence.
Now, celebrities have a right to control how their images are used, but it's frequently a tough fight.
Unlike the other celebrities who seem to be implied as models for other TyGirlz dolls, Malia (10) and Sasha (7) are very young, however, and one expert, Christina Vercelletto, senior editor of Parenting magazine, said it would be inappropriate to use them as models for the dolls:
"We need to remember they are still children themselves. To kind of mass-market them as stars and turn them into dolls who are a little more mature than they are? The message: Girls should look older than they do."
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