When good toys go bad: Little Mermaid doll may call you a "slut"
By Donald Melanson 
posted Dec 11th 2006 5:05PM
posted Dec 11th 2006 5:05PM
We're not sure if Ariel here got into the same stuff that made Asimo unable to stand on its own two feet, but according to a shocked (shocked!) mom in San Jose, the previously innocent Little Mermaid Shimmering Lights Ariel doll has turned potty mouth, reportedly adding the phrase "you're a slut" to its usual repertoire of pleasantries. Ever the investigative journalists, the folks at ABC News decided to get to the bottom of this controversy themselves, buying a doll and shooting a video of the profanity in question. As the video shows, however, this doesn't appear the result of a mischievous toymaker trying to corrupt young minds by slipping in a little surprise before the doll runs off the assembly line, with the offending phrase just barely recognizable and more than likely the result of the power of suggestion -- which must also explain why our Roomba seems to keep calling us a slob. [Via Fark]
hey guys do you want to have some fun with me?
I just watched the video on ABC. I couldn't hear it.
me neither. maybe beautiful sounds like YOU'RE a slut?!
slow news day?
We need to stop letting stupid people breed.
I couldn't hear it, though it should be thrown in the trash for sounding like crap.
I heard "Watch CNN" over and over in the first part of the video, ABC might want to take this down. Well, it was either that or "Mike Mussina". I guess Ariel's a Yankees fan.
This is just one of the many reasons why I don't watch ABC news...
only thing wrong with this toy is that it's annoying to hear an adult press the button for 2 mins; trying to spark controversy, over a word that it "sounds" like it's saying, get a new hobby America...
ABC News: Disney's new PR department...
Maybe that mother was just hearing her guilty conscience, hmmm....lol.
Wow the biggest non story ever ever.
I couldn't hear it. I think it's just an exaggeration.
http://funnyvideos.canbeseenhere.com
I heard it repeating, "Say-lut." How ever did it become, "you're a slut"? This is incredibly idiotic.
Ariel calls them as she sees them.
That's nothing, my kid had a toy where you're supposed to rotate an arrow in the center and it points to various animals and birds. First time you point at a duck, for example, it says "It's a duck". But if you point it to duck twice in a row, it says "It's a duck, bitch!". I kid you not. You can clearly discern the expletive.
Duck in an explative? Eh, Who knew.
It's a dead battery. You're a wonderful what ever, cuts out when trying to say wonderful. So, as it says, "You're a wo" wo sounding like "wuh" which somehow sounds like slut. Good job mothers keeping your girls safe from harmful words.
Well I bought one myself to check and I heard it saying "shire!....baggins!...my precious!....we wants the precious!...master stole the precious!" and then suddenly it said "You...shall not...pass!!", but then I threw it from the bridge of Khazad-dm into the shadows of Moria where it was eaten by a Balrog and will therefore harm no more concerned mothers who will know the wrath of Sauron if they keep "hearing" stuff from a doll.
After listening to it, i swear she was saying "Chuck Norris"
I could definately hear it say "You are such a slut."
It's toward the end of the video, though.
Wow, yeah, that's really reaching.
Ariel is hot
gotta get one of those for my ex-gf...
Give me a break. One of the phrases she says is "You're a wonderful friend" I think the alleged "you're a slut" phrase is really the "you're a wonderful friend" cut off and repeated "you're a wond...you're a wond...you're a wond"
looks more like arial is a slut
Ariel, you ROCK! I am buying a sload of these. I have at least 3 nieces that could definately use these.
Don't push the button so fast? Stupid slut... if you don't follow directions and get an undesireable result whose fault is it!?
Hardly the most offensive Little Mermaid doll out there. What about the uber offensive tower on the movie poster. MUCH worse. And not very subtle.
http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/mermaid.htm#add
...and neither is true, the chip is clearly glitching, no one is pressing any buttons. The coral shaft poster and this doll are both false vulgarities... =/
I have a comment about the grammar in this article. Theres a tremendous run-on sentence at the end. It can be confusing if a sentence has many commas, not to mention the deviations in thought between each comma, however cool it is, can be easy to trail off and make the readers disinterested and confused.
Uhhh...didn't hear anything here. Wow...what a waste of time and effort, ABC should take it down.
I got got home from target, where i bought one for my brothers kid. This is going to be a riot at christmas!!
I'm amazed that ABC couldn't produce a better quality recording. It's more embarrassing than the crappy toy!
er, market opening anyone? "Potty Mouth [name of character]"
Dressed in an Offensive Binary T-shirt, natch.
I would have thought the mother would have been more offended by the doll saying "You're nipples are so beautiful". (Check the 34 second mark in the vid).
I could hear it, but it took many times. Like someone said before, it was kinda an exaggeration... i'm sure everyone has had a toy that when you press it multiple times you could *think* you're hearing something else.
Yeah, I can definitely hear it. It also sounds like it is saying Chuck Norris, so it really is subjective. Bottom line is WTF, find something better to do with your time