CULTURE WATCH : Joe Doesn’t Sound Himself These Days

When 7-year-old Zachariah Zelin of San Diego ripped off the Christmas wrapping, he squealed with delight. Santa brought the talking G.I. Joe doll he wanted. Problem was, Joe talked like Barbie.

His doll stands at the ready in Army fatigues, machine gun and hand grenades at its side. But it says things like, “Want to go shopping?”

The BLO has claimed responsibility. That’s Barbie Liberation Organization. Made up of more than 50 concerned parents, feminists and other activists, the BLO claims to have surreptitiously switched the voice boxes on 300 G.I. Joe and Barbie dolls across the United States this holiday season.

The group contends Barbie teaches sexism and passivity in girls, and G.I. Joe influences boys to act violently.

Among the messages the tampered G.I. Joe utters are, “I love school. Don’t you?” and “Let’s sing with the band tonight.” In a deep voice, the altered Barbie says, among other things, “Dead men tell no lies.”

Wayne Charness of Hasbro Inc., the Pawtucket, R.I.-based maker of G.I. Joe, called the BLO’s attack ridiculous. A spokeswoman for Barbie’s creator, Mattel Inc. of El Segundo, would say only that no consumers have complained.

When Zachariah was asked whether he wanted Santa to take back his Joe, he said: “No way. I love him. I like everything about him. He’s teaching me not to fight.”