The Ex, also known as the Ex-Girlfriend, and now renamed to Alexa Zombie, is a discontinued

mannequin A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. P ...

produced by Zombie Industries as a shooting target. The mannequin's name, and the fact that it spouted blood when shot, caused controversy. The target received attention after the

National Rifle Association of America The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while cont ...

requested that Zombie Industries remove another target that resembled

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

from a vendor booth at the organization's 2013 convention. It was criticized by domestic violence organizations including UltraViolent, as well as the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, but the manufacturer claimed that it was not intended to promote violence against women.

Doll

The Ex was a mannequin target with fair skin and a pink bra showing through a white t-shirt. It was designed to bleed when struck by bullets. Other zombie-themed targets manufactured by Zombie Industries have a green or grey skin tone, and the Ex was noted for being the one that looked the most like a living human.

Reactions

The target became known after another one of Zombie Industries' targets was criticized for resembling the then President

. The company had displayed their bleeding targets at the 2013 conference of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). Groups opposed to domestic violence criticized the target and started a campaign against its manufacturer. Amazon withdrew the target from sale. Zombie Industries said that they included women as targets because doing otherwise would be sexist. The company said that it did not wish to discriminate against or promote violence against women. Amid criticism, Zombie Industries renamed the doll ''Alexa Zombie'' and promised to redesign the target to make it look distinct from a human woman. The company denied reports that they had displayed the target in their booth at the NRA convention.

References

{{reflist Dummies and mannequins Sports targets 2010s controversies in the United States 2013 controversies Zombies and revenants in popular culture Sculptures of women in the United States