An elaborate hoax featuring actress Daryl Hannah hit Mattel on Tuesday, perpetrated by climate change activists using buzz about the Barbie movie to mock the toy company’s use of plastic.
The “EcoWarrior Barbie” promotional campaign imitating Mattel Corp. and Los Angeles public relations firm JPR Communications included fake press releases, spoofed Mattel websites and email addresses, false phone numbers, dozens of social media profiles and a video of Ms. Hannah announcing the phony product line.
The convincing materials announced that the imaginary “MyCelia Barbie” dolls made from mushrooms, algae and other natural materials would be modeled after Ms. Hannah and other climate activists such as Greta Thunberg as part of the California-based company’s transition from recyclable plastic to all-natural materials by 2030.
Throughout the day, Ms. Hannah retweeted favorable reactions on X.com to her video promoting the fake dolls. She also retweeted articles that news outlets ranging from People and DowJones MarketWatch to The Washington Times briefly posted online in the morning before Mattel confirmed the news was a hoax.
“It is a joke, but a very serious joke actually,” Ms. Hannah, 62, said at a 5 P.M. virtual press conference copping to the media stunt. “Mattel is not going plastic free, but they should.”
At the press conference, Ms. Hannah joined members of the Russian feminist band Pussy Riot and unnamed activists in calling for the United Nations and world governments to outlaw nonessential plastic.
“Right now, while Hollywood is congratulating themselves on saying the word ‘patriarchy’ and using the color pink, the heroes I look to are busy getting their hands dirty,” said Nadya Tolokonnikova, a founding member of Pussy Riot.
Ms. Hannah said the fact that “Fortune 500 companies” are on track to gross $1 billion from the Barbie movie made it an ideal time to point out that “plastic recycling and recyclability is largely a myth … created to keep us all comfortable with continuing to consume.”
“Barbie just happens to be a good place to start because Barbie is the star of the summer’s hottest blockbuster and she’s going through a cultural metamorphosis,” Ms. Hannah said. “But Barbie’s petrochemical plastic is not so fantastic. The vast majority of Barbie products are still made with petrochemical plastic, one of the most prevalent pollutants on the planet.”
The phony campaign claimed Mattel would abandon recycled plastic materials, lobby for a federal ban on nonessential plastics and convert its facilities to all-natural manufacturing.
In reality, the California-based toymaker has announced plans to move toward 100% recycled, recyclable and biodegradable plastic in all of its products and packaging by 2030. But Mattel has announced no plans to give up plastic altogether.
The company also manufactures the American Girl, Fisher-Price and Hot Wheels toy brands.
“While we cannot confirm the source of the information you received, this is a hoax and has nothing to do with Mattel or any of its products,” a Mattel spokesperson told The Times.
“We have nothing to do with this. Whoever these guys are, they’re good,” added Mark Smith, executive vice president and partner at JPR.
Mr. Smith said the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of the fake press releases included an older version of JPR’s corporate logo that was phased out six months ago. The firm handles press announcements for technology companies related to artificial intelligence, Microsoft Edge and data warehousing.
“I wonder if they just looked for ‘California PR agency’ and found our old image on Google,” he added in an email. “It’s very bizarre.”
Another video in the spoofed media campaign plays a catchy jingle while children play with dolls in several make-believe scenarios, including one in which Barbie is arrested by the police and one in which she tosses Molotov cocktails at Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The hoax campaign said other “environmental heroes” in the limited edition dolls would include Julia Butterfly Hill, Phoebe Plummer, Neimonte Nenquimo and “more than 2,500 dead activists from around the world who have been tragically lost while protecting nature in the last decade.”
Ms. Hannah, a well-known climate change activist, starred in “Splash” and the “Kill Bill” films. Although it was initially not clear whether the video featuring her was authentic, her talent agency Lookout Management confirmed its authenticity in an afternoon email to The Times.
A woman calling herself Beverly Hamm, who claimed to represent Mattel in the fake advertising campaign, insisted the hoax was real in several email exchanges with The Times on Tuesday.
A man calling himself J.D. Turk, who answered the Los Angeles-area phone number listed in the press materials and claimed to be her executive assistant, said the same.
There is no “Beverly Hamm” or “JD Turk” listed as employees at Mattel or JPR Communications. A Google search for the latter name redirected to “J.D.” and “Turk,” two characters from the ABC sitcom “Scrubs.”
Mattel is enjoying a surge of success with the release of “Barbie,” starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as the iconic dolls Barbie and Ken. Produced in part by Mattel Films, the movie has earned nearly $800 million globally in the first two weekends of its theatrical release.
The company already has plans for 17 movies based on its toy brands in the wake of the film’s success.
Reaction to the hoax on Tuesday appeared muted, with most news outlets pulling their initial stories down without replacing them with further coverage.
Some environmentalists expressed delight with the stunt, however.
“It’s disappointing that Mattel pledging to go plastic-free by 2030 turned out to be a hoax — doing so would have protected children’s health for multiple generations,” said Kristina Marusic, a journalist at Environmental Health Sciences. “Toys like Barbies can nurture kids’ imagination, but unfortunately, toys made of plastic can also raise kids’ cancer risk.”
Mark D. Solomon, vice president of the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators, a California-based nonprofit, said the stunt’s success at duping media outlets underlined the rise in the ability of deep fake technology to impersonate real entities.
“Unethical and illegal use of deep fake technology can have a significant negative financial and reputational effect on anyone that it is used against,” Mr. Solomon told The Times. “From an authenticity point of view, it creates fear, mistrust, and doubt as to who actually is communicating a message.”
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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