Caylee Sunshine Doll: Charity or Cheap Exploitation?

As evidence continues to mount in the murder case of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, presumably by her "tot mom" Casey Anthony, a shiny new website is now promoting an "Inspirational Sunshine Doll" do "raise awareness of such a terrible and recurring crime."

Cayleedoll.com is a home-made blogspot website (the redirect is to cayleesunshineabout.blogspot.com) featuring an entire line of merchandise they claim will "bring an honorable tribute to a life that was taken away far too soon, cause you to meditate on the scared beauty of an innocent child, and cultivate that innocence in your heart as you hold your Sunshine Doll."

But is this real charity or just another scam exploiting the death of a young girl to pad some pockets?

The Cayleedoll.com website's official statement claims 100% of the proceeds of sales of the Caylee Sunshine Doll will go to "charity," but exactly what charity remains to be seen. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is currently not accepting donations from this particular website, although their website (missingkids.com) gives easy instructions for donating. Could it be that The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is hesitant to take donations from a case of child exploitation? Cayleedoll.com says it will post the name of the charity as soon as they find "a reputable organization who is willing to accept the funds." Kind of convenient when no one was to accept your charity donations.

The 18-inch-toll Sunshine Dolls look like all-American girls with blonde-hair, blue eyes, jeans, denim sneakers and white tees with their signature sunshine logos. Choose from Hope Sunshine, Gracie Sunshine and Sally Sunshine. The real kicker is the song that plays when you press the Caylee Sunshine Doll's bellybutton - "You Are My Sunshine" which the ad says was "made famous by precious little Caylee" and is "the song that every child has in their heart."

As the Cayleedoll.com website says, "Hold onto your doll to remind you that Little Caylee is safe in Heaven, embraced in loving arms forever!" And you can hold onto your own Caylee Sunshine doll for just $29.99.

The website repetitively says the Caylee Sunshine Doll is a simple for "every child" and holding it "can help up remember that all children taken from this world prematurely are dancing, playing and singing their SUNSHINE song forever." Trite ad copy always makes for good sales. In another strong business move, the company is limiting production of the dolls to create a higher demand.

Other merchandise includes a "Caylee Sunshine Awareness" T-shirt for $12.99, and "Caylee Sunshine Awareness Bracelets" and "Caylee Sunshine Awareness Stickers" for $3 each.

Cayleedoll.com has received a good bit of local coverage from Tampa Tribune, The Ledger, First Coast News and national hits with Fox News and Nancy Grace. They thank the media for introducing their product and say they "welcome the advice and counsel of the press" essentially to keep them honest. IT appears to be a tongue-in-cheek jab at the press' criticism of the product. Translation: Thanks for the free publicity and we'll keep making our money thank you very much. The sales were briefly suspended but are up and running again now.

The Caylee Sunshine Doll is produced by Showbiz Promotions, a Jacksonville, Florida based company boasting "Newsworthy Gift and More." Their other lines include sports merchandise for the Florida Gators and political fare at Obamastore2009.com and SarahPalinPuck.com. However, they were last in the news for their Vick Dog Chew Toy from the former Atlanta Falcon dog abuse case. Showbiz Promotions caught heat for their plastic version of Vick as critics blasted the obvious exploitation masking as concern for the animal crime's case.

Comments in the media have called the Caylee Sunshine Doll "sick" and "bad taste." Comments on the Cayleedoll.com website range from general support for the doll to business advice, like this one from a poster named Candace: "Maybe you should contact Casey and get her okay to go ahead with not only making of the doll, but a hair color change to look more like Caylee also. You can call it the Caylee Sunshine Rememberence Doll. Make a few free ones for Cindy, George, Casey, Lee, myself, and one for Caylee to take with her so she won't be alone in her casket. Never let a good idea go down the drain...get on your job. It's not everyday that a doll is made for a person that is not a celebrity. This doll will sell...BIGTIME!"

Notice the excitement about the doll selling and the inclusion of herself along with actual family members of the Anthony family for a free doll.

The real question here is who started exploiting "little Caylee" first? Nancy Grace with the nightly updates for a year or Cayleedoll.com?