Mattel pinstriped the hood of a child’s toy tow truck with a phone number to call for service. No big deal; most business vehicles boast contact info. But, a grandmother’s curiosity uncovered that this number invokes a different kind of service: a sex line. Details after the jump.
Emma Rabid
A Marietta, Ga., grandmother said she was shocked when on a lark she called a telephone number printed on a MattelMatchbox toy truck given to her 3-year-old grandson. The number on the tow truck worked alright – it dialed a phone sex line, reports Atlanta Business Chronicle broadcast partner WXIA-TV.
The grandmother said she was glad her grandson wasn’t old enough to dial the number himself, but worried an older child might.
Mattel (NYSE: MAT) told WXIA the toy was first made in 2000 and hasn’t been made in many years, and that at the time the number did not belong to anyone. The company added the situation is an example of why it no longer includes telephone numbers on toys.
