Criticism for American Girl doll company over major mistake in Scandinavian St. Lucia celebration tribute

American Girl Doll fanatics have called out the company for a shocking mistake they made while trying to honor a Swedish tradition. 

The iconic toy company shared a video of their Kirsten Larson doll getting ready to celebrate Saint Lucia Day, wearing a traditional holiday outfit – a white dress with a red bow and a green wreath with candles on her head.

The fan-favorite historical character was seen hanging garland and putting out Saint Lucia buns – a traditional treat for the Scandinavian holiday.

‘Happy Saint Lucia Day!’ American Girl wrote as the TikTok’s caption.

‘In her story, Kirsten surprises her family with a Saint Lucia celebration, keeping their cherished Swedish tradition alive.’ 

Many commenters gushed over the fan-favorite historical doll, while others quickly pointed out an error the doll company made in the video. 

‘It’s pronounced Lou-see-ah in most places that celebrate it,’ one commenter explained. 

Another user chimed in to correct the pronunciation: ‘Lu-see-uh. American Girl, What is this pronunciation? Did no one on the marketing team do any research?’

‘Lusha,’ one woman wrote, mocking the way the voice narrating as Kirsten pronounced the saint’s name.

‘It’s pronounced Loo-SEE-ah in Swedish,’ someone chimed in. 

A disappointed fan said: ‘I want to show this to my Swedish sister-in-law and have her soul leave her body at how badly mispronounced this is.’

‘Pronouncing Lucia that way is so wild,’ another Kirsten-lover agreed. 

Viewers said that not only was the company’s pronunciation of the saint’s name incorrect, but Kirsten’s accent was not accurate either. 

‘Why she got an American accent and pronouncing the holiday wrong?’ someone asked, alluding to the fact that Kirsten’s character is a Swedish immigrant. 

‘Wouldn’t she have a swedish accent bc they immigrated?’ someone else pondered. 

One user joked: ‘I think missy lied on those immigration papers.’

‘They didnt even try to pronounce Lucia right,’ someone declared. 

DailyMail.com has reached out to American Girl for comment. 

Kirsten is one of American Girl Doll’s first three historical characters. She was created to represent a mid-1800s Swedish immigrant. 

In the original Kirsten book, her nine-year-old character likes to explore and is ‘extremely curious,’ but sometimes her inquisitiveness gets her into trouble, according to the doll’s Fandom page. 

Her and her family immigrated to Minnesota, and the book chronicles their struggles as they get accustomed to their new lives.  

Saint Lucia Day was on Friday, December 13. In Sweden, Norway and Swedish-speaking parts of Finland, the holiday is a festival of lights to honor the Christian martyr Lucia of Syracuse, according to Visit Sweden. 

Based on legend about Saint Lucia, she brought food to Christians hiding in Roman Catacombs and used a candle-lit wreath on her head to light her way. 

Each year, one girl or young woman is chosen to dress as the Lucia, wearing the gown and candle-lit wreath, and others follow in the white gowns to celebrate the holiday. 

This year, Finland chose their first black Lucia, Daniela Owusu. The 20-year-old said she saw the ceremony when she was kindergarten and knew it was always something she wanted to be a part of.

‘It would be important to have a Lucia who represents multiculturalism and to show that Lucia can look many different ways,’ she told Yle news. 

Owusu shared her experience as this year’s Lucia online, sparking waves of support.

‘I’m so excited seeing you as the Lucia,’ one user wrote under a TikTok of her in her white gown.

In a TikTok posted about Owusu as ‘Finland’s First Brown Lucia,’ the comments were flooded with discussions about how people have not been chosen to be the Lucia based on their appearance in the past. 

‘So happy to see this! I grew up in a small town in southern Sweden and I was told my whole life I could never be Lucia because I’m not blonde (even though she’s Italian). So this truly warms my heart,’ someone wrote.

Another person added: ‘Even tho it’s not about looks, Lucia was a saint and she would be happy to see all available to represent her and her offerings.’ 

The Kirsten’s Surprise Holiday Collector Doll and Book set retails for $230, according to the American Girl website. 

This specific holiday doll is already sold out for the holiday season and is backordered until January 10. 

The Kirsten doll in her holiday gown was originally introduced in 1986, but was retired in 2009, based on American Girl’s Kirsten page.   

Kirsten in her Saint Lucia outfit was re-released this year as a part of the collector set.