Tetris toys with Russian anthem melody pulled from sale in Baltic states

Incident at Rimi chain

Children's gaming consoles in the shape of Tetris have been removed from the shelves of Rimi stores in the Baltic states. The reason was that the devices played the melody of the Russian anthem. This became known thanks to a journalistic investigation by the Bez Tabu programme.

How the violation was discovered

The trigger for the check was a complaint from a resident of Jelgava. The man had purchased a children's toy at Rimi that played the Russian anthem when selecting a game. Journalists found a similar product in a store in Riga and confirmed that even passers-by recognised the melody.

Explanations from the parties

Rimi representatives stated that the console had been on sale for approximately three weeks. The goods were supplied by a long-time partner of the chain from Estonia. The company noted that staff do not check built-in melodies and games before placing toys on the shelves.

Dutch manufacturer Toi-Toys emphasised that the use of the Russian anthem was not a deliberate decision. After receiving the complaint, the company requested an explanation from the Chinese manufacturer and promised to avoid similar situations in the future.

Scale of sales

Rimi stressed that such a toy contradicts the chain's values, so it was removed from sale in all Baltic states. In three weeks, 19 such devices were purchased in Latvia, and the total number of consoles sold in the region reached 40 units.