American Girl Company ‘Disgusted’ By Maskless Gun-Toting ‘Karen’ Doll Parody Ad

Tommy ChristopherJul 4th, 2020, 12:42 pm
 

Facebook/Adam the Creator

The company that makes American Girl Dolls says it is “disgusted” by an ad parody featuring a gun-toting Walmart shopper who refuses to wear a coronavirus mask, and who goes by the pop culture-infamous moniker of “Karen.”

The ad parody features a scowling white woman in a purple sweatsuit carrying a nickel-plated semi-automatic handgun who is not wearing a face covering, while other shoppers keep their distance. It was posted to Facebook by Adam Padilla, who calls himself “Adam the Creator,” and was shared widely.

“This doll scares the shit out of me,” the caption read, and it featured the “American Girl” logo at the bottom.

https://www.facebook.com/adam.the.creator/photos/a.1056298644491922/2997051967083237/

The parody is a play on the “Karen” phenomenon, which has become a hot topic following a slew of news stories featuring examples of white women engaging in behaviors characteristic of the term. One notorious example was the Central Park incident in which Amy Cooper was filmed threatening to falsely report that a Black man was attacking her, and then did just that.

There have also been a slew of incidents in which irate people act out when required to wear a mask in public places.

The ad parody circulated on Twitter as well, where it came to the company’s attention when a user named Donna wrote “I saw a post of an American Girl doll,Karen, who refuses to wear a mask and carries a gun as disgusting. Is this what we want to teach our children?”

“Donna, we were equally disgusted with this post. Please be assured we are taking the appropriate steps to ensure this is removed,” the company replied.

Contrary to the doll in the ad parody, American Girl promotes safety by offering PPE for its dolls.

The actual 2020 American Girl of the Year is a doll named Joss Kendrick, whose backstory includes being born with partial hearing loss.

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