MISSOULA — Is a child’s doll a promotional tool of Islam?

That’s what some people are saying about the Little Real Loving Baby Cuddle & Coo doll, which seems to utter a pro-Islam message, causing some outrage among parents around the country and here in Missoula.

“It was disturbing to me,” said Tina Dennison, whose daughter had been carrying around Baby Cuddle & Coo, made by Mattel, for about a year before Tina recently noticed the message.

So concerned was Dennison that she complained to several Missoula retailers, including the local Kmart on Brooks Street, which promptly took the baby doll off its shelves.

The doll plays three short recordings whenever it’s touched or approached. Two of the messages are innocuous enough, lots of infantile gibberish with “mama” as the only discernable word.

But the third recording seems to say, “Islam is the light.” Or at least that’s what some people are hearing.

Dennison and her friends swear they hear it clearly, and don’t want their children exposed to Islamic ideas.

“It’s inappropriate,” said Dennison. “Especially at Christmas. In our home, Jesus Christ is the light.”

The Missoulian spent some time at the Break Espresso cafe downtown on Friday, asking people to listen to the doll’s message. None of the people interviewed were aware of the controversy.

“I couldn’t determine what it was,” said Cliff Larsen, Democratic state senator from District 50. “I could hear distinct words. There are four or five. But I can’t make it out.”

When told what the baby allegedly says, Larsen laughed.

“We’re not indoctrinating our infants, are we?” he said.

Lizzie Bennett, sipping on a caffeinated beverage, took a long listen to the baby recordings.

“I can ride a bike?” she guessed after her second listening.

Ken Woodward, sitting with her, didn’t fare much better, even after listening three times with the doll practically in his ear.

“I still got nothing,” he said. “Yeah, ‘ride a bike.’ We’ll go with that one.”

For its part, Mattel has issued a press release about the controversy, denying that it is intentionally trying to infiltrate American homes with a pro-Islam message.

Instead, it’s all just one big phonetic mash-up that happens to sound like a sentence, the company contends.

“The Little Mommy Cuddle & Coo dolls feature realistic baby sounds including cooing, giggling and baby babble with no real sentence structure,” the company said in a written statement. “The only scripted word the doll says is ‘mama.’ There is a sound that may resemble something close to the word ‘night, right, or light.’

“Because the original soundtrack is compressed into a file that can be played through an inexpensive toy speaker, actual sounds may be imprecise or distorted.”

Others have claimed to hear the phrase “Satan is king,” though Dennison said she hasn’t personally heard it in the many dolls she’s listened to.

Snopes.com, the Web site that investigates urban legends, quickly surmised that there was no intention of inserting a pro-Islam or satanic message in the doll.

Robert Lewis, manager of the Missoula Kmart, said it’s likely the doll will be back on his shelves soon.

“More than likely, we’ll probably put it back on the shelf,” he said. “We did it, really, to appease a customer. Otherwise, it’ll just sit there in storage.”

On the Web

Click here to view the Missoulian's video of public reactions to the doll.