Manchester United and Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteigercould be set to take legal action against Dragon in Dream, a Hong Kong based toy manufacturer for producing a line of Nazi dolls that resemble the player’s image. The dolls are named ‘World War II Army Supply Duty – Bastian’ which indicates that the manufacturers had the playmaker in mind when making the dolls however, they claim that any resemblance that Bastian has to Bastian Schweinsteiger is “purely coincidental.” The figure is very controversial given that the Nazis were based in Germany as well as the insulting implication that Schweinsteiger has some kind of relation to them because he’s German.
Dragon in Dream has made it clear that they don’t use the image of footballers to make their products and further stated that they “thought all Germans looked like that.” They claim that Bastian is a very popular name in Germany which is why they decided to name that doll that however, when looking at the toys it’s very hard to argue that the design is coincidental. The toy line is definitely bad press for Schweinsteiger, who has made a great start to life at Manchester United and has also endeared himself to the United faithful with his intelligent brand of football. Understandably Schweinsteiger’s lawyers will be looking to get their client some kind of compensation as they believe that his “personality rights” have been breached.
Germans are outraged by the fact that this doll has been produced as Bastian Schweinsteiger is seen as a hero in the country, especially after Germany’s 2014 World Cup triumph. German newspaper Bild labelled the doll a “dirty Chinese slur” and Die Welt were left unhappy that Schweinsteiger had been converted into a Nazi, they were further infuriated with the comments made by Dragon in Dream as it showed insensitivity towards Germany.
For Manchester United fans, they’ll be hoping that Schweinsteiger isn’t too concerned by this controversy as the Red Devils take on local and title rivals Manchester City in the Manchester Derby on Sunday and the German midfield maestro will be needed to knock the Sky Blues off the top of the table.
