Toddler's Elmo Doll Makes Death Threats, Family Says

Toddler's Elmo Doll Makes Death Threats, Family Says

News Channel 8 photo by MICHAEL EGGER
Melissa Bowman says this Elmo Knows Your Name doll says "kill James."
Related Links


http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/feb/21/toddlers-elmo-doll-makes-death-threats/

By PETER BERNARD, News Channel 8, And RAY REYES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 21, 2008

A Lithia family says a cuddly, programmable Elmo doll revealed its dark side yesterday after fresh batteries were installed.

Instead of singing songs or reciting the favorite color of its 2-year-old owner, James Bowman, the doll started making death threats, the family says.

With a squeeze of its fuzzy belly, the Sesame Street character now says, in a sing-song voice, "Kill James." "It's not something that really you would think would ever come out of a toy," said Melissa Bowman, James' mother. "But once I heard, I was just kind of distraught."

The Elmo Knows Your Name doll, which connects to a computer to learn certain phases and names, recently ran out of battery power, Bowman said.

About an hour after she put new ones in, "I noticed exactly what it was saying," Bowman said. "And my son was repeating exactly what it was saying."

Bowman said Elmo is James' favorite character. James even has Elmo slippers, but the malfunctioning, death-threat-spouting Elmo Knows Your Name doll is now being kept away from her son, Bowman said.

"This is his absolute favorite toy," she said. "So we've been going through a lot of hassle because he's trying to climb up the counter and up the closets to get it."

Fisher-Price, the toy company that manufactures the dolls, said it will issue the Bowmans a voucher for a replacement doll. The company said it will examine James' model for the source of the problem and check whether other Elmos are experiencing the same malfunction.

*********************************************************************************************************************************
I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

I think this is hilarious. "Distraught?" Seriously. Lighten up folks. It's not as if your precious little miracle is never going to hear "bad things." Most kids hear worse out of the mouths of their own parents.

If the kid is trying to climb onto the counter to get it, maybe stupid moo should wait 'til the kid is sleeping and put it where he won't see it anymore. Dumb cunt.

This might be a good opportunity to explain to your kid how people at the factory, while inappropriate, like to goof around, and that Elmo really doesn't say those things. First of all, the kid is 2 fucking years old, like he has a clue what Elmo is even saying.

But then if we acted grown up about it, we couldn't make a big stink, sue someone for scarring their kid, and get media attention.

I believe if I were some toddlers doll, I'd be issuing death threats too.

Why don't the parent's just throw it away, or at the very least put the doll in a closet or somewhere the kid won't see it? It's a 2 year old for chrissakes, and even I know how to fool a 2 year old.

"It truly is the one commonality that every designation of humans you can think of has, there's at least one asshole."
--Me

Feh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I believe if I were some toddlers doll, I'd be
> issuing death threats too.

:yeah

That is great! I could not imagine being a toddler's doll!

How lame are these parents??!! So one of them calls up the local paper, "I've got a story for you: Our son's Elmo doll says, 'Kill James.'"

So the reporter writes up the story because he/she likely has so many stories to write in a day on deadline on shitty pay (Most newspapers pay shitty wages to reporters) And stories like this happen.

i have always been evil.. i freely admit it, when i see these talking dolls, i want to go and change the words they say, like find a speaking dora the explorer doll. and change the words to french or german swear words ..

*********************************************************************************************************************************
I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

Over the Giftmas season, I saw this huge pile of angel and toy soldier dolls in a very shi-shi store in Walnut Creek, Calif. You could record messages. I played with a few and found that if I used a high-pitched voice, the recording sounded like Alvin the chipmunk. So I recorded my voice saying things like, "Fuck you, Santa" and "No presents for you." So when brat pressed the button, he/she received the appropriate holiday greeting.

Nour Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Over the Giftmas season, I saw this huge pile of
> angel and toy soldier dolls in a very shi-shi
> store in Walnut Creek, Calif. You could record
> messages. I played with a few and found that if I
> used a high-pitched voice, the recording sounded
> like Alvin the chipmunk. So I recorded my voice
> saying things like, "Fuck you, Santa" and "No
> presents for you." So when brat pressed the
> button, he/she received the appropriate holiday
> greeting.

Right on, Nour! :yr

I used to live in the SF East Bay eons ago. The teens from Walnut Creek were always the biggest ass pains thinking they are All 'Dat due to having parents who are rich.

What you did was "rich". I hope some really pampered, coddled brat got that toy...:yeah

Nour, that is beautiful. Simply beautiful.

Like Am said, I hope some real candy ass got that toy. LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I question the term "malfunction" as stated by Fisher-Price. I think one of the firmware developers decided to add a "personal touch" to that particular lot! This reminds me of a "bug" I discovered a long time ago in an early Mac OS. If you typed the word "childcare" the spell checker would flag it as a spelling error and suggest "kidnapper" as a correction.