A black rag doll that came with instructions to "whack" it against a wall was pulled from a dollar store in Bayonne, New Jersey, following complaints that it was offensive.
The "Feel Better Doll" included instructions to "whack" the doll "whenever things don't go well and you want to hit the wall and yell." The black fabric dolls came with multicolored hair in the style of dreadlocks and featured large white eyes and a white smile.
One Dollar Zone, which has locations throughout the northeast, pulled roughly 1,000 dolls from three of its New Jersey stores on Friday. The Mayor of Bayonne had posted to Facebook his thoughts about the doll after it was brought to his attention saying the dolls were "insensitive" and "can certainly be considered racist." The dolls were included in a shipment of about 35,000 pieces of closeout merchandise, mostly with an "I Love NY" theme, including mugs and picture frames.
The store says these just slipped through the cracks.