Italy – Toy Maker Blasted Over ‘Measles Doll’ (Video)

Whenever walking in a shopping street in Spain or Italy (or any of the Mediterranean European countries for that matter), visitors from Western Europe are always struck by the great number of toy shops in cities like Barcelona, Rome or Naples in comparison to similar streets in Berlin or Amsterdam. Yes, the ‘passegiato’ or evening stroll with the family in the Mediterranean (a daily ritual where one walks with the children in order to ‘be seen’ by others and meet up before dinner) is often paired with buying toys for the children.

In Spain and Italy toy shops therefore tend to stay open very late.

However, Italian toy shops are now faced with controversy as one of their best-selling items has come under fire. A doll called the Cicciobello Morbillino (Cicciobello Measles), was launched by manufacturer Giochi Preziosi. Cicciobello is highly popular among Italian girls and the TV is full of its ads.

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="it" dir="ltr">🍼Cicciobello che cos&#39;ha? È tutto coperto di pois!<br>Aiuta <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cicciobello?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cicciobello</a> a guarire dal morbillo con i suoi colorati cerottini, la cremina e la magica salvietta.<br>🔎 Scopri di più su Cicciobello Morbillino su <a href="https://t.co/ioukL9JnxF">https://t.co/ioukL9JnxF</a> <a href="https://t.co/q0cFurfIw7">pic.twitter.com/q0cFurfIw7</a></p>&mdash; Giochi Preziosi (@giochipreziosi) <a href="https://twitter.com/giochipreziosi/status/980354139287904256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2018</a></blockquote>

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The company stated on twitter: “From today you can have fun curing her red spots. You will find everything you need in the carry case. Are you ready?”

Local doctors failed to see the need to trivialize a disease which kills people on a yearly basis, and immediately asked for the retraction before children would think that measles is anything that can simply be cured with a plaster.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="it" dir="ltr">🍼 E dopo tanti puntini eccolo qui: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CicciobelloMorbillino?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CicciobelloMorbillino</a>.<br>Da oggi potrai curare le sue piccole bue rosse divertendoti a cancellarle. Nella valigettina troverai tutto ciò che ti serve. <br>Sei pronto? 🔎 Scopri di più su <a href="https://t.co/ioukL9JnxF">https://t.co/ioukL9JnxF</a> <a href="https://t.co/OVEFRQZXUj">pic.twitter.com/OVEFRQZXUj</a></p>&mdash; Giochi Preziosi (@giochipreziosi) <a href="https://twitter.com/giochipreziosi/status/981109269616525313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Mr Roberto Burioni, a professor at the Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele in Milan: “We’re now waiting for Cicciobello Lymphoma and Cicciobello Meningitis."

"You run the risk of inducing people to worry more about the vaccine, which is safe, than the disease which is, on the other hand, not absolutely banal.”

The launch of the toy also comes as the number of measles cases has increased in Italy.

Just last year, there were almost 5,000 cases of the measles, which is almost six times as high as in 2016.

Three children aged one, six, and nine died from the disease in 2017.

Source:

http://www.controradio.it/cicciobello-contro-tutti-il-morbillo-non-e-un-gioco-ma-per-chi/