My Friend Cayla

My Friend Cayla was a line of 18-inch dolls invented by Bob Delprincipe and sold by Genesis Toys. The doll is similar in size and proportions to the likes of an American Girl or Maplelea doll, but her main selling point is her Internet of Things capabilities, basically making Cayla a Chatty Cathy on steroids. At her core, Cayla is nothing more than a Bluetooth speaker stuffed into a doll, but through a companion mobile app, one could have a conversation, ask questions and have the doll tell a story to its owner as if she were a real person. Which sounds cute on paper...

...except the idea of an Internet-enabled doll for children would be criticised as being wrong on so many levels. Stranger Danger ensues, and Big Brother-esque concerns led her to be banned in Germany and restricted in other places, after a white-hat security researcher pointed out a glaring flaw in her design, leading to complaints and her eventual discontinuation.

The resulting controversy led to the doll's inclusion in the Museum of Failure in Sweden, where similar failed products and services which were either commercial failures or are controversial in their own right are on display. Cayla is exhibited alongside the likes of No Man's Sky and the N-Gage smartphone/handheld console hybrid, highlighting some of the notable failures in the tech industry. Another example was donated by a concerned German mother to the German Spy Museum in Berlin, marking the first time a toy was included in the exhibit.


 * Character Shill: The doll's scripted responses contain undisclosed Product Placement adverts as clumsy Enforced Plugs. Cayla tells children that her favourite picture is Disney’s The Little Mermaid and her favourite song is Let it Go from Disney’s Frozen. Cayla also tells children she loves going to Disneyland and wants to go to Epcot in Disneyworld,
 * Everything Talks: The doll follows Clarke's Law for Girls' Toys where toys are presented as being powered by magic.
 * Offer Void in Nebraska: Under German telecom law, the Cayla doll is classified as a "concealed transmitting device" which is basically illegal to possess.
 * Trojan Horse: The terms of service specify that any question asked to the doll is recorded, stored and used both to enhance the toy as well as by “third parties acting under the direction of Nuance.” It then details the third parties could include “military, intelligence and law enforcement agencies.”