Inside, amidst life-size models of lemons and oranges and a wall of plastic toys for children, is the Evil Stick.
That article described the toy’s functionality but made no mention of a hidden embedded image, and it said that the foil flower functioned as a mirror that served to distort the user’s face: In September 2014, the “Evilstick” was included in a New Zealand newspaper’s roundup of discount store merchandise.
Moustafa said the Evilstick may have been a leftover Halloween toy but, when we visited the store, they were placed with barbie dolls, tiaras, and other girly toys. Moustafa said that Allen should have inspected the toy more closely and taken note of the name before purchasing it for her daughter. The owner of the store, Amar Moustafa, said he was not aware of the details of the product. The store’s owner, Amar Moustafa, wasn’t specifically aware of the item, but he said parents should inspect toys before purchasing them to determine whether or not any given plaything was too scary for small children: I want to know how they think this is suitable for a child.” Allen said she was angry when her son removed the foil to reveal the picture and added that the toy emitted a menacing laugh, making it even scarier: “I’m outraged over it. The toy resembled typical dollar store off-brand merchandise, which is not infrequently foreign-made, poorly labeled, or otherwise different from non-discount merchandise found at larger retailers.