Page 25 - Ty Warner Case Study

The last assignment by Cyrk was to distributed Clubby Beanie Buddies via the
BBOC website. However, Cyrk was forced to pay $216,000 as a civil penalty
for failing to promptly deliver the toys in the time set by its advertisements,
which is illegal by the Federal Trade Commission. Ty has reportedly now fired
Cyrk Inc., due to the mess that was brought with the Clubby Beanie Buddy
promotion.

At least 25 million Americans - 66 percent of them women - hunt for antiques
and 59 percent of collectors use the Internet, according to a study that national
polling company A.C. Nielson conducted for Country Home magazine and
eBay. Eighty-five percent of respondents said eBay has made collecting easier
and more fun.

In 2007, Ty Inc. took on MGA Entertainment makers of the Bratz with the
release of Ty Girlz dolls and virtual world.

Ty Girlz were girl dolls manufactured by Ty Inc.
Similar to the Ty Beanie Babies the Ty Girlz
were on a limited release pattern with dolls being
introduced and older ones retired at various
times. Ty Girlz are plush toys that are connected
to an online virtual world at TyGirlz.com.
Introduced to the global market on April 13,
2007, Ty Girlz was the first virtual world
targeted to girls when it launched. The line was
discontinued in 2012.

The President's Daughters

In January 2009, Ty released two new Ty Girlz, one named Sweet Sasha and the
other named Marvelous Malia. However, these dolls were soon linked to Sasha
and Malia Obama, daughters of President Barack Obama.

On January 21, a Ty spokesperson confirmed that the Obama daughters were
indeed the inspiration. In response to the Beanie Babies, Michelle Obama's
press secretary said that Ty did not ask permission to use the Obama daughters'
first names, saying "It is inappropriate to use young private citizens for
marketing purposes." On January 22, when asked whether the new Beanie
Babies were inspired by Sasha and Malia Obama, Ty's Senior Vice President of