Area home burns down
News hounds (3/18/10)
Students go 'Back to the 80's'
Compiled by "Smart Mouth" columnist Amelia Robinson, Seen and Overheard is fueled by juicy tidbits, oddball tales and strange sightings.
Home > Blogs > Seen and Overheard > Archives > 2009 > August > 21 > Entry
Costco pulls ‘Lil Monkey’ doll parents called racist, story makes rounds
Not every dolly is cuddly.
![IMG_4877[1].jpg](http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/shared-blogs/dayton/seen_and_overheard/upload/2009/08/costco_pulls_lil_monkey_doll_p/IMG_4877%5B1%5D.jpg)
Costco Wholesale may have pulled the controversial ‘Lil Monkey” doll from its shelves, but the story about it continues to travel through cyberspace thanks to a chain letter.
The company is still catching flak from those who say it should have known better in the first place.
A customer from Greensboro, N.C. first complained about the “Cuddle with Me” Lil Monkey doll, the subject of the email chain letter that asks recipients to call Costco to complain.
There are no Costco stores in the Dayton area, but the popular discounter has locations nearby in the Cincinnati and Columbus areas.
The offending doll is black, holding a banana and is surrounded by several brown monkeys.
There are apparently white and Hispanic versions of the “Lil Monkey” dolls well and the “Cuddle with Me” dolls come with other animals. One features pandas.
Costco and the doll’s makers have apologized, according to news reports, saying it was not their intent to offend. The dolls were only on the shelves for about a day.
“Immediately Costco and our company made the decision to pull the product off the shelves,” Mary Gustaff, CEO of the company’s designer The Brass Key, told the Seattle Times .
But seriously come on, a black baby doll and monkeys?
Seen & Overheard runs daily in the Dayton Daily News. Twitter with me at DDNSmartmouth. Have an item for Seen and Overheard? Click here.
