American Girl Is ‘Disgusted’ By Ad Parody Of Rude ‘Karen’ Doll
Images via Shutterstock and American Girl
American Girl—a well-loved toy brand that welcomes diverse customizations of 18-inch dolls according to ethnicities, faiths, time periods, and clothing—is “disgusted” by a spoof portraying one of its dolls as a difficult gun-wielding middle-aged white woman with a distaste for face masks.
The viral parody created by meme maker Adam Padilla, who goes by the moniker Adam the Creator, shows “Karen” the Walmart shopper with a gun in hand, along with a caption in iconic American Girl aesthetics, “She’s an independent thinker who refuses to wear a mask in public places!” The model is also alleged to be American Girl’s “2020 Girl of the Year.”
The image plays out the “Karen” stereotype describing uncooperative white women—usually portrayed with short layered blonde haircuts—who are perceived as frequently demanding to “speak to the manager.” Following real-life incidents, this character has most recently been described during the COVID-19 crisis to be adamant about not wearing face covers.
American Girl has since responded to the caricature following complaints by customers who had believed the ad to be legitimate. “We are equally disgusted with this post,” the company wrote. “Please be assured we are taking the appropriate steps to ensure this is removed.”
In truth, American Girl dolls come with the option to add personal protective equipment (PPE) to costumes, Mediaite reports. The company’s 2020 American Girl of the Year is also a character by the name of ‘Joss Kendrick’, who was imagined to be born with partial hearing loss.
I am literally crying. 😂 Who did this?! pic.twitter.com/uTVIIkw2U1
— Emily Thies (@ejthies15) July 1, 2020
Image by Adam the Creator via @ejthies15
Donna, we were equally disgusted with this post. Please be assured we are taking the appropriate steps to ensure this is removed.
— American Girl (@American_Girl) July 1, 2020
Help our heroes! ❤️ For every scrub outfit sold, we'll donate a doll activity book to @1strcf. Learn more: https://t.co/ZN7F2GOOih pic.twitter.com/z05nTy3Kml
— American Girl (@American_Girl) June 24, 2020
[via Mediaite, images via various sources]
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