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U.S.: ENTREPRENEUR ROLLS OUT SADDAM HANGING DOLL | |
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Oxford, Connecticut, 4 Jan. (AKI) - A small Connecticut-based company Herobuilders, has produced a mail-order doll of late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's final minutes at the gallows. Despite having received a death threat on Thursday, Herobuilder's founder and owner, Emilio Vicale told Adnkronos International (AKI) he does not regret creating the doll or feel it is inappropriate. 'What about Saddam's gassing of thousands of people - was that in good taste?' he asked, referring to Saddam's alleged responsibility for the gassing of 5,000 Kurds and poisoning of thousands more.
In what might seem a cynical marketing move, Vicale decided to manufacture the 24.95 dollar doll two months ago. It has been available on the company website since last Friday - 'when we knew the execution would go ahead on Saturday,' he said.
'We've sold about 100 so far,' Vicale said, adding that his company - which sells a range some of 35 political action figures - usually sells about 300 dolls every 4-5 days. Herobuilders has a factory nearby to their Connecticut office and produces the dolls on demand, so Vicale is unfazed by the slower-than expected start to sales of the macabre Saddam doll. 'We already have four action figures of Saddam and so its seemed natural to do this one,' he said.
'We regularly receive complaints from customers over some of the dolls,' he said. 'We got hundreds of email threats when we produced our Osama bin Laden doll,' Vicale continued.
The company produced its first doll - of United States president George W. Bush - in February 2002. The 'Hero Action Figures' list contains British prime minister Tony Blair, Senator, Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice, and Jesus Christ, amongst others.
'Osama bin Laden, his number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, four earlier incarnations of Saddam, his son Uday - one showing his bloodied head after the US firefight that killed him and his brother - as well Russian president Vladmir Putin and his French counterpart Jacques Chirac are among the dolls available from Herobuilders' 'Villains' list.
A number of the dolls such as Osama, Uday, and Venezuela's anti-US president Hugo Chavez are talking ones, Vicale said.
'People of all different ilks buy these dolls. Customers are adults, mostly men, but a lot of women also buy them as gifts for their husbands,' Vicale concluded.
