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Pussycat Dolls Too Risqué to be Actual Dolls

Looks like the Pussycat Dolls will have to rely on their music alone as their ticket to immortality. A few months after defending their decision to release a line of fashion dolls based on the sexy singing and dancing group, toymaker Hasbro has flip-flopped and decided that the stockings-and-stilettos look isn't something they want to promote to little girls.

An advocacy group called Dads & Daughters was among several that had started an active letter-writing campaign against Hasbro, pointing to the group's roots in burlesque as a sure sign that they had no business being packaged and sold to kids. Hasbro refused to acknowledge that the outside pressure had anything to do with their decision, saying instead that they were surprised by Interscope's creative direction with the band, which "focused on a much older target than we had anticipated at the time of our original discussions, thereby making a line inappropriate for Hasbro," according to a statement released by the company.

Score one for the little guy, says Susan Linn of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, another organization that needled Hasbro. "It's really important to know that corporations can be stopped," Linn said. "It really underscores the importance of people working together to stop commercial exploitation of children."

Also, score one for the Bratz -- the controversial doll line that caters to contemporary trends and has grown to Barbie levels of popularity. Critics had accused Hasbro of trying to one-up the Bratz with the more sexualized Pussycat Dolls.

--The ARTISTdirect Staff
05.26.06