Company Defends Itself Over Toy Resembling 9-11 Attacks
WFTV.com (Fla.), August 27, 2004
Channel 9 prompted some quick action after we found a children’s toy that had a plane between two towers. Lisy Corporation officials are defending their company and say they feel they were tricked into putting the toy in their candy bags.
It’s hard to imagine how the little toy could make it into the hands of children. It shows a jetliner flying into a set of Twin Towers.
Moises Soto is just 11 years old, but he doesn’t need school to know right from wrong and good toys from bad.
“It looked like a plane crashing into the Twin Towers,” he says.
Moises knew immediately what this toy was all about when he saw his 2-year-old nephew, Isa, playing with it.
“It’s not appropriate. It was a tragedy that happened and it’s not good to have a toy like that,” Moises says.
The toys are packaged with candy sold at Hispanic groceries. They were distributed as far away as Boston.
The company that sold them, but now has recalled them, is called Lisy Corporation, a Miami-based spice, snack and candy company.
“We gave our people, immediately, the authority to get it from the stores and to send it back,” comments Luis Padron, Lisy Corportation.
Upon realizing the nature of the toy, and the product number 9-0-1-1 on each toy, Lisy Corp. sent a letter to stores saying the toy “resembles the Twin Towers and an airplane. [It is] “totally inappropriate”
Lisy says they were sold the toys by L&M Import and Export. The product was coded as a plastic swing play set and sent in two versions, one with a man swinging between the towers. The product was packed in bulk, with the airplane version out of sight.
“So when they packaged it, that box has many toys inside and they never realized it, ‘cause they called it a swing set,” says Padron.
Lisy Corp. says they are angry and blame L&M. They believe the product was manufactured in China.
For the second day in a row, the importer of the toy, L&M Import and Export refused to comment. But, they told Channel 9 they didn’t think it was a big deal, saying they consider it just a toy for children and don’t think it’s inappropriate.
