A grandmother from Brampton, Ontario was filled with confusion and shock when a seemingly cute and friendly dancing cactus toy she bought for her 15-month-old granddaughter sang a Polish song about drug abuse and depression.
According to CTV News, Ania Tanner bought the toy on Walmart’s online store for $25.85, where it’s marketed as an educational toy for young children. The dancing cactus sings songs in three languages: English, Spanish, and Polish.
“It just so happens that I am Polish and when I started to listen to the songs and I heard the words,” said Ania. “I was in shock. I thought what is this some kind of joke?” The cactus sings a song by Polish rapper Cypis, who was not aware his song was being used for the toy, involving lyrics about cocaine abuse and heavy depression.
“It’s about taking five grams of cocaine and being alone … It’s a very depressing song. This is not what I ordered for my granddaughter.”
Cypis is seeking legal action against the Chinese manufacturer behind the singing cactus toy for reportedly using his song without permission.
Walmart has reponded to the complaints by swiftly removing the toy from online stores. A Walmart spokesperson told CTV news, “These items are sold by a third-party seller on our marketplace website. We are removing the items while we look into this complaint further.”
Despite Walmart’s quick response, complaints with the toy go back almost five months ago, when the toy was being sold in Europe through Amazon in July 2021.
