A mom’s video of a baby toy’s disturbing jokes shocked millions on TikTok and prompted the toy company to open an investigation.
Ashley Lynn said her grandmother got her 9-month-old son an unassuming baby toy for Christmas off the Walmart website through a third-party vendor. It was a toy remote, Lynn showed in the video, and made different noises and jokes when the user pressed each button.
But when Lynn and her family listened as her son pressed the buttons, they realized some of the jokes weren’t age-appropriate.
“Well then my mom hears something and she calls us all in and she’s like, ‘it just said something about a drive-by shooting!’ Lynn said in her TikTok. “I was like, ‘No way.’”
More buttons had jokes about death and priests “screwing,” as can be heard in Lynn’s video, which had more than 14 million views as of Jan. 5.
Lynn’s grandmother bought the toy through Walmart, which sells items online from third-party vendors. The baby toy remote was from a company called Linsay.
“We have opened an investigation and recalled the items by software issue,” a Linsay spokesperson told McClatchy News in an email. “Meantime the product was retired from the market.”
Twenty-seven toys were sold before the product was pulled from the market, Linsay told McClatchy News.
The toy packaging shows the remote is suitable for children ages 3 and older and describes the jokes buttons as “Interesting story, it is helpful for the baby to learn cultural knowledge in play,” Lynn shows in her TikTok.
Other stores including Lowe’s, Macy’s, Office Depot and Military Exchange were selling the toy but had all removed it from their stock after Lynn contacted the toy company, the mom said in an update video.
Walmart confirmed to McClatchy News that the toy was being sold through a third-party vendor. Walmart’s website specifies that third-party marketplace sellers are responsible for “shipping and handling, customer service, exchanges and returns.”
“This momma is not happy,” Lynn wrote on her TikTok – and others were just as surprised.
“It is for babies!! It is supposed to tell them numbers, colors, and shapes,” one person commented.
“My jaw just absolutely dropped,” another viewer said.
Lynn reached out to Linsay and got a reply in a “timely manner” saying the toy was no longer being sold, she said on TikTok.
___
© 2023 The Charlotte Observer
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
