Shopper says gymnast Barbie box hides Nazi-style salutes

A gymnastics Barbie is at the center of an online fight after one shopper claimed the art on its box contains a hateful gesture.

What she spotted

TikTok user Ana Elizabeth says she was looking around a CVS store when she grabbed the doll from Mattel's "You Can Do Anything" line.

The figure itself looks harmless. Barbie wears a leotard and carries ribbons along with batons.

The problem, in Elizabeth's view, is the cartoon audience drawn behind her. The spectators are colored blue. A number of them have a single arm stretched upward in a pose she compared to the Nazi salute.

The video

In her clip Elizabeth zooms in on those figures and asks how such a picture ended up on a product for kids. She set the footage to music that resembles a German march. Her caption made a pun about the coach being "heil-y disappointed" if Barbie missed out on Olympic gold.

Two camps online

Plenty of viewers were angry. Some said Mattel failed to catch offensive art. Others urged people to stop buying the company's toys.

Many disagreed. They said the drawing simply shows fans cheering with raised arms and that critics were seeing something that is not there. Several noted that some of the figures lift both arms, which they said undercuts the Nazi theory.

Nothing suggests Mattel put the imagery there on purpose. The toy maker has not commented publicly and did not answer a request for comment.