Marvelous Malia and Sweet Sasha are the names of the dolls manufactured by Ty - the company that made billions from the Beanie Babies.
The first lady's press secretary, Katie McCormick Lelyveld, said in a statement Saturday it is "inappropriate to use young, private citizens for marketing purposes."
Tania Lundeen, a spokesperson for the company who I wont grace by repeating their name, told the Chicago Sun-Times Wednesday the dolls were inspired by the first family's daughters. However, she later did a U turn and told the Associated Press the names of the $10, brown-skinned dolls were chosen because "they are beautiful names," and not because of any resemblance to the Obama children.
Thank goodness there is one high profile set of parents who draw the line at using children as marketing tools.
