Before you purchase for toys this Christmas, heed the warning about the rapping cactus.
According to a lady from Brampton, Ontario, who learned the hard way, the toy, which is advertised as instructive, might teach your children more than you want them to know. The little, neon-green dancing cactus that Ania Tanner purchased sings along to the beat in English, Spanish, and Polish. Tanner learned that one of the songs in its repertoire was an explicit song about cocaine and misery after purchasing it for her granddaughter.
I am Polish by coincidence, so when I started listening to the songs and I heard the lyrics, I was shocked, she said CTV News.
What is this, some sort of prank, I wondered.
The twirling succulent sings the song Gdzie Jest Biay Wgorz? (Zejcie), also known as Where Is the White Eel? (Descent), whose opening lines, according to a number of internet translations, are: “The only thing in my thoughts is five grams of cocaine / Fly away alone, to the verge of oblivion. Later lines contain profanity, gory images, and depressive allusions.
According to a Cypis agent, the rapper was unaware that the song was featured in a kid’s toy.
According to the spokesperson, Zbigniew Florek, he is disgusted.
The toy’s listing on Walmart has subsequently been taken down. On our marketplace website, a third-party vendor is offering these things for sale. The company told CTV that it was taking the goods down while it looked into the allegation more thoroughly.
The matter has previously been brought up. A Polish-speaking woman in Taiwan who purchased the item and had a comparable experience was mentioned in reports from July.
Since at least December 2020, dancing cactus toys have been around. Since then, a plethora of such products have appeared and are still readily accessible on Amazon and Alibaba, however it’s unclear whether the original models included the Polish music.
Amazon chose not to respond. An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by Alibaba.
Unknown manufacturers produce the goods. Numerous sellers claim ownership of them, and the overwhelming number of cacti testifies to what appears to be a dropshipping operation.
Dropshippers look for inexpensive goods that they believe would be popular, such talking plush hamsters or dancing cacti. They then serve as a go-between, hoping their products will be well-liked. Many of these products are made in China. Frequently, the products are already there when dropshippers arrive.
In the instance of the dancing cactus, it seems that the dropshippers got what they wanted. On TikTok, users have shared videos of individuals dancing with the cacti and newborns playing with the toys, which demonstrate how popular the toys are.
Some parents may feel prickly about the cactus in light of the most recent controversies. But for some, the song seems to have turned into a selling point. One five-star Amazon review reads, “Has the Polish song. Sings a Polish song about cocaine use. Another reviewer rates the product 10/10 and would buy it again for their 1-year-old.
The music video for Where Is the White Eel? was commented on by Cypis himself, who wrote: “Grab the link to my new album. P.S. : May the cactus guard you!
On December 9th, 2021, a reference to a TikTok video that was accidentally included in this page was removed.
What happened to the cactus that danced?
A “toddler-friendly musical toy” that Walmart was selling was pulled off the shelves when angry buyers discovered it was singing in Polish about cocaine addiction.
Who created the cactus that moves?
From this point on, everything began when a mother found something wrong in the game and reported it on Twitter.
Cocaine and suicide attempts were often mentioned in the lyrics, “Cocaine and suicide attempt repeated. It definitely shocks me.
It was written by Polish musician Cypis. He is one of the most well-known rappers in Poland, and the video has received 30 million views in the past six years. The lyrics of the song touch on a number of issues that millennial rappers commonly discuss, including depression, drugs, and suicide.
Again, the toy producers claim that the dancing cactus can help stimulate imagination and creativity in children, while another online baby product site describes it as a good device for toddlers. So what’s happening now?
According to the accurate definition of an educational toy, these are playthings made for kids that are supposed to encourage learning. Additionally, they frequently serve educational purposes, such as educating children on a certain subject or assisting them in the development of a particular talent.
Are we using this toy to try to teach our kids about cocaine? Don’t refer to it as an instructional toy. It ought to have been referred to as a spoiling game.
What toy was taken off the Walmart shelf?
According to CTV News Toronto, a singing cactus that was advertised as a toy for young children has been taken down from the Walmart website.
After it was discovered that one of the songs the toy sings in Polish involves references to drug use and suicide ideation, the singing cactus was removed off the Walmart website.
The cactus sings the adult-themed song “Gdzie Jest Biay Wgorz,” or “Where is the White Eel?” by Polish musician Cypis. Polish mother Ania Tanner, who bought the toy for her grandchild, informed CTV of the discovery “I was stunned. What is this, some sort of joke, I wondered.”
Although the toy was offered for sale on both Amazon and the Walmart website, it was really made by a Chinese manufacturer rather than either company.
Customers are not the only ones upset about Cypis’ song being included in a kid’s toy; the musician’s management has made it clear that this was not their plan.
ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb
Management for Cypis verified that the musician had not given consent for their music to be used in this manner. A representative for the band informed The First News that the artist was thinking about taking legal action and referred to the toy company’s use of the tune as “illegal.”
The representative said, “Obviously, the [toy] producer would not be allowed to utilize the song for this reason.”