Harris Faulkner, an anchor on the Fox News cable network, is a human and has been on TV for decades. Yet the toy company Hasbro sells a tiny plastic hamster as part of its Littlest Pet Shop line which is named Harris Faulkner. How did the hamster get its name? Is it intended to insult or honor Ms. Faulkner, or just a very strange coincidence? She has sued the company for $5 million dollars, either way.
Sure, I would love if someone named a toy hamster after me, but not without my permission. Faulkner may not have anything about hamsters, but her lawsuit says that the company “willfully and wrongfully appropriated Faulkner’s unique and valuable name and distinctive persona for its own financial gain.” The letters (TM) appear after the name Harris Faulkner on the toy’s package, which implies that the journalist’s name has been trademarked by Hasbro.
She also happens to have daughters who are six and eight years old, which is the target market for Littlest Pet Shop toys. The lawsuit is happening because she complained about the toy back in January, and Hasbro didn’t respond. The suit describes the existence of this doll as “distressing,” since the she believes that the hamster doll “bear[s] a physical resemblance to Faulkner’s traditional professional appearance,” including her skin tone, eye shape, and the design of the animal’s eye “makeup.”
“Further,” the complaint says, “Hasbro’s portrayal of Faulkner as a rodent is demeaning and insulting.” Not just a rodent, but an officially licensed plastic rodent: Faulkner doesn’t endorse or license products, believing that’s inappropriate for a journalist.
We noticed that the toy is no longer on the Littlest Pet Shop site, and also isn’t in stock online at Diapers.com or Target, but it isn’t clear whether that’s due to the lawsuit or the toy has been rotated out of the current lineup of Littlest Pet Shop characters.
In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, Hasbro declined to comment on the lawsuit about the resemblance of the hamster to Ms. Faulkner, but over her allegation that the toy is unsafe, and that a child could potentially choke on a rodent with her name on it. Hasbro sent a statement to Entertainment Weekly:
While we generally do not comment on litigation matters, it is critically important to correct a false statement made by Ms. Harris in the complaint regarding the safety of the product. The Littlest Pet Shop product identified, and all products in the Littlest Pet Shop line, meet and exceed all safety standards.
Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner sues Hasbro over same-named toy hamster [Deadline Hollywood]
by Laura Northrup via Consumerist
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