Parents have reported that LOL Surprise Dolls appear in lingerie after being dipped in water - what you need to know

Parents have branded the dolls as "inappropriate" (Photo: Jack Taylor/Getty Images)Parents have branded the dolls as "inappropriate" (Photo: Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
Parents have branded the dolls as "inappropriate" (Photo: Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

LOL Surprise Dolls have sparked concern amongst parents after claims that they appear in “lingerie” after being dipped in water.

This is everything you need to know about the situation.

What are people claiming?

Parents are calling LOL Surprise Dolls “inappropriate” after a Facebook video was shared, showing a mother dipping one of the dolls into water to see what happened.

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After taking it out of the water, the doll appears to have new black lines of clothing on its body, giving it the appearance of wearing lingerie.

“So inappropriate for children you guys,” the woman says in the video after taking the doll out of the water.

This isn’t a new claim however, with a Reddit post from 2019 making the same statement.

The post reads: “My 3 year olds “LOL Surprise doll” she got for Christmas. When you dip her in cold water, her “secret spy outfit” shows up. A.k.a secret lingerie. And for whatever reason the nipples become extremely visible.”

Is it true?

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Fact checking site Snopes gave the claim a rating of “mostly true” on its website.

What is true, Snopes states, is that some LOL Surprise Dolls are designed to change colour when dipped in water.

“In addition to clothes, accessories, and hair changing colours, designs on the doll’s body can also appear. In some cases, these changes involve clothing that resembles lingerie,” Snopes explains.

However, the “lingerie” does not appear on all LOL Dolls when placed in water.

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It’s also worth noting that MGA Entertainment, the company that makes LOL Surprise Dolls, markets the fact that they change colour when placed in water.

Snopes explains: “When these dolls are not wearing clothing and are dipped in water, it’s possible for the design to resemble lingerie.”

Has there been other LOL Surprise Dolls controversy?

MGA Entertainment has not responded to the concerns that placing the dolls in water appears to reveal lingerie.

This isn’t the first time that the company has found itself in the midst of controversy.

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In 2019, parents were upset by LOL Dolls after complaining that the boy and girl dolls were “anatomically correct”.

MGA Entertainment CEO Isaac Larian defended the dolls on an appearance on Fox Business, saying: “Human beings are anatomically correct. I think we’ve got to teach our children from an early age about their body parts. I see nothing wrong with that.”

Earlier this year Larian appeared to go on a racist Twitter rant after a black influencer accused the company of copying her image for a LOL Surprise Doll.

Amina Mucciolo, who is an artist, designer and YouTuber with more than 300,000 Instagram followers, started receiving DMs from her followers asking if she knew that she had been turned into a LOL Surprise Doll.

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Talking to Buzzfeed, Mucciolo said: “The first thing I noticed was the exact replica of a hairstyle I did to celebrate my 35th birthday. It was aqua with rainbow highlights, and it was shocking because the hairstyle was the result of my imagination and leftover hair I had from the previous style I wore.

“I didn’t have a visual reference or anything, so it was disturbing to see something that came straight from my mind, to be duplicated on a toy that I had no part in creating.”

When Mucciolo called out the company, Larian took to Twitter to reply to her claims, writing: “You are #Disgrace to black people and the #BLM cause. #Liar and #Coward.”

Larian later apologised for his tweets and deleted his Twitter account.

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