How would feel if a toymaker (say, the maker of Beanie Babies) started manufacturing dolls in the image of your two young daughters without asking for consent or even respectfully letting you know in advance? Spittin’ mad, I’d say, especially if you were a woman interested in shielding your children from the massive spotlight that will fall upon them as children of the president. It sounds a bit surreal, but that’s actually what has happened, and Michelle Obama isn’t happy:

First lady Michelle Obama is not pleased about the marketing of a pair of dolls that bear the same names as her daughters.

“We believe it is inappropriate to use young private citizens for marketing purposes,” Ms. Obama’s spokeswoman said.

Ty Inc. has released the 12-inch plush dolls as part of the company’s “TyGirlz Collection,” introduced in 2007. The Sasha doll has pigtails and wears a white and pink dress with hearts. The Malia doll has a side ponytail and a long-sleeve shirt with capri pants.

Pretty disgusting if you ask me. But infinitely more disgusting is the response from Ty’s spokesperson claiming that the dolls aren’t based on the first daughters and that the names are basically a huge coincidence. Reports MSNBC.com:

The Oak Brook-based company chose the dolls’ names because “they are beautiful names,” not because of any resemblance to President Obama’s daughters, said spokeswoman Tania Lundeen.

“There’s nothing on the dolls that refers to the Obama girls,” Lundeen said. “It would not be fair to say they are exact replications of these girls. They are not.”

Is anybody out there buying this? And more importantly, would any of you buy these dolls? They are reportedly, selling for $9.99, not sure where.

Via / MSNBC.com