American Girl doll company SLAMMED for glaring error in tribute to Scandinavian St. Lucia celebration
American Girl Doll fanatics have blasted the company for a shocking mistake they made while trying to keep a Swedish tradition alive.
The iconic toy company shared a video of their Kirsten Larson doll getting ready to celebrate Saint Lucia Day, wearing a traditional Christmas outfit: a white dress with a red bow and a green wreath with candles on her head.
The fan-favorite historical character was seen hanging streamers and handing out Saint Lucia rolls – a traditional treat for the Scandinavian holiday.
‘Happy Saint Lucia Day!’ American Girl wrote as TikTok’s caption.
‘In her story, Kirsten surprises her family with a Saint Lucia celebration, keeping their cherished Swedish tradition alive.’
Many commenters raved about the fan-favorite historical doll, while others were quick to point out a mistake the doll company made in the video.
“Most places where it is celebrated, it is pronounced Lou-see-ah,” one commenter explained.
Another user stepped in to correct the pronunciation: “Lu-see-uh. American Girl, what is this statement? Didn’t anyone on the marketing team do any research?’
Kirsten, a popular American Girl Doll, was featured in a Saint Lucia Day video in her traditional holiday dress
Daniela Owusu, 20, made history as Finland’s first black Lucia during this year’s Saint Lucia celebration
“Lusha,” one woman wrote, mocking the way the voice narrated as Kirsten said the saint’s name.
“It’s pronounced Loo-SEE-ah in Swedish,” someone chimed in.
One disappointed fan said: ‘I want to show this to my Swedish sister-in-law and have her soul leave her body because of how badly this is mispronounced.’
“It’s so wild to pronounce Lucia like that,” another Kirsten lover agreed.
Viewers said that not only was the company’s pronunciation of the saint’s name incorrect, but Kirsten’s accent was also incorrect.
“Why does she have an American accent and mispronounce the holiday?” someone asked, referring to the fact that Kirsten’s character is a Swedish immigrant.
“Wouldn’t she have a Swedish accent because they emigrated?” someone else pondered.
One user joked: “I think Missy lied about those immigration papers.”
Saint Lucia Day was celebrated on December 13 in honor of the Christian martyr
Owusu said she wanted to be Lucia since she was in kindergarten
“They didn’t even try to prove Lucia right,” someone stated.
DailyMail.com has reached out to American Girl for comment.
Kirsten is one of the first three historical characters of American Girl Doll. She was created to represent a Swedish immigrant from the mid-19th century.
In the original Kirsten book, her nine-year-old character loves to explore and is “extremely curious,” but sometimes her curiosity gets her into trouble, according to the doll. Fandom page.
She and her family immigrated to Minnesota, and the book chronicles their struggles as they adjusted to their new life.
Saint Lucia Day was on Friday, December 13. In Sweden, Norway and the Swedish-speaking parts of Finland, the holiday is a festival of lights in honor of the Christian martyr Lucia of Syracuse, according to Visit Sweden.
Based on the legend of Saint Lucia, she brought food to Christians hiding in the Roman catacombs and used a candle-lit wreath on her head to light her way.
Each year, one girl or young woman is chosen to dress up as Lucia, wearing the dress and candle-lit wreath, and others follow in the white robes to celebrate the holiday.
The American Girl doll was criticized for mispronouncing the saint’s name as ‘Lusha’ instead of ‘Loo-see-uh’
This year, Finland chose their first black Lucia, Daniela Owusu. The 20-year-old said she saw the ceremony when she was in kindergarten and knew it was always something she wanted to be a part of.
“It would be important to have a Lucia that represents multiculturalism and to show that Lucia can look in many different ways,” she told Yle news.
Owusu shared her experience as this year’s Lucia online, sparking waves of support.
“I’m so excited to see you as the Lucia,” one user wrote under a TikTok of her in her white dress.
In a TikTok post about Owusu as ‘Finland’s first brown Lucia’, the comments were flooded with discussions about how people weren’t chosen to be the Lucia based on their past appearance.
‘So happy to see this! I grew up in a small town in southern Sweden and I was told all my life that I could never be Lucia because I’m not blonde (even though she is Italian). So this really warms my heart,” one person wrote.
Another person added: ‘Even if it’s not about looks, Lucia was a saint and she would be happy if anyone was available to represent her and her sacrifices.’
Saint Lucy brought food to Christians hiding in the Roman catacombs and used a candle-lit wreath on her head to light her way. Girls dress like the saint to honor her during the holiday
The Kirsten’s Surprise Holiday Collector Doll and Book set costs $230, according to the American newspaper American girl website.
This particular holiday doll has already sold out for the holidays and is backordered until January 10th.
The Kirsten doll in her holiday dress was originally introduced in 1986, but was retired in 2009, based on American girl‘s Kirsten page.
Kirsten in her Saint Lucia outfit was re-released this year as part of the collector’s set.