Iran Bans ‘Simpsons’ Dolls

Iran has announced a ban on dolls from The Simpsons franchise, claiming the legendary cartoon series has a morally corrupting influence on Iranian youth. Dolls of Homer, Marge, Bart and other characters from the show join the likes of Barbie, who was banned in the Islamic Republic last month.

Mohammad Hossein Farjoo is the man who leads the agency behind the ban. Farjoo, whose full title is ‘Secretary for Policy Making at the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults in Tehran,’ told the Sharq newspaper:

“The Simpsons dolls are merchandise from an animated series, of which some episodes are even banned in Europe and America. We do not want to promote this cartoon by importing the toys.”

I’m not personally aware of any Simpsons episodes banned in the U.S. or Europe, and Farjoo didn’t expand on this. Regardless, America’s yellowest family won’t be seen on Tehran store shelves in the near future. Merchants in Tehran have confirmed that Simpsons merchandise is getting harder to obtain from wholesalers. Stores in the city, reveal the vendors, now rarely display such toys.

Barbie was banned last month because of what Iranian officials deemed to be her provocative body shape (which is actually anatomically freakish). Farjoo cheerfully pronounced at the time:

“Imports of all kinds of dolls that display full adult figures are banned because they promote Western culture.”

That said, superheroes such as Superman and Spiderman are a-okay in Iran, because they fight for the oppressed – much like the Iranian government. Or maybe not …