Barbie
History
The original Barbie was launched in March 1959. Ruth Handler watched her daughter
Barbara at play with paper dolls, and noticed that she often enjoyed giving them adult
roles. At the time, most children's toy dolls were representations of infants. Realizing
that there could be a gap in the market, Handler suggested the idea of an adult-bodied
doll to her husband Elliot, a co-founder of the Mattel toy company. He was
unenthusiastic about the idea, as were Mattel's directors.
During a trip to Europe in 1956 with her children Barbara and Kenneth, Ruth Handler
came across German toy doll called Bild Lilli.[1] The adult-figured doll was exactly
what Handler had in mind, so she purchased three of them. She gave one to her
daughter and took the others back to Mattel. The Lilli doll was based on a popular
character appearing in a comic strip drawn by Reinhard Beuthin for the newspaper
Die Bild-Zeitung. Lilli was a working girl who knew what she wanted and was not
above using men to get it. The Lilli doll was first sold in Germany in 1955, and
although it was initially sold to babies, it became popular with adults who enjoyed
dressing her up in outfits that were available separately.
Upon her return to the United States, Handler reworked the design of the doll (with
help from engineer Jack Ryan) and the doll was given a new name, Barbie, after
Handler's daughter Barbara. The doll made its debut at the American International
Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959. This date is also used as Barbie's official
birthday.
Mattel acquired the rights to the Bild Lilli doll in 1964 and production of Lilli was
stopped. The first Barbie doll wore a black and white zebra striped swimsuit and
signature topknot ponytail, and was available as either a blonde or brunette. The doll
was marketed as a "Teen-age Fashion Model," with her clothes created by Mattel
fashion designer Charlotte Johnson. The first Barbie dolls were manufactured in
Japan, with their clothes hand-stitched by Japanese homeworkers. Around 350,000
Barbie dolls were sold during the first year of production.
Ruth Handler believed that it was important for Barbie to have an adult appearance,
and early market research showed that some parents were unhappy about the doll's
chest, which had distinct breasts. Barbie's appearance has been changed many times,
most notably in 1971 when the doll's eyes were adjusted to look forwards rather than
having the demure sideways glance of the original model.
Barbie was one of the first toys to have a marketing strategy based extensively on
television and advertising, which has been copied widely by other toys. It is estimated
that over a billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide in over 150 countries, with
Mattel claiming that two Barbie dolls are sold every second.[2]
The standard range of Barbie dolls and related accessories are manufactured to
approximately 1/6th scale, which is also known as playscale.[3] Barbie products
include not only the range of dolls with their clothes and accessories, but also a huge
range of Barbie branded goods such as books, fashion items and video games. Barbie
has appeared in a series of animated films and made a brief guest appearance in the
1999 film Toy Story 2.
Almost uniquely for a toy fashion doll, Barbie has become a cultural icon and has
been given honors that are rare in the toy world. In 1974 a section of Times Square in
New York City was renamed Barbie Boulevard for a week, while in 1985 the artist
Andy Warhol created a painting of Barbie.[4][5]
Biography
Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. In a series of novels published by
Random House in the 1960s, her parents' names are given as George and Margaret
Roberts from the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin.
Barbie attended Willows High School and fictional Manhattan International High
School in New York City. She has an on-off romantic relationship with her boyfriend
Ken (Ken Carson), who first appeared in 1961. Like Barbie, Ken shares his name with
one of Ruth Handler's children. A news release from Mattel in February 2004
announced that Barbie and Ken had decided to split up, but in February 2006 they
were back together again.[6][7]
Barbie has had over forty pets including cats and dogs, horses, a panda, a lion cub,
and a zebra. She has owned a wide range of vehicles, including pink Corvette
convertibles, trailers and jeeps. She also holds a pilot's license, and operates
commercial airliners in addition to serving as a flight attendant. Barbie's careers are
designed to show that women can take on a variety of roles in life, and the doll has
been sold with a wide range of titles including Miss Astronaut Barbie (1965), Doctor
Barbie (1988) and Nascar Barbie (1998).[8]
Mattel has created a range of companions for Barbie, including Hispanic Teresa,
Midge, African American Christie and Steven (Christie's boyfriend). Barbie's siblings
and cousins were also created including Skipper, Tutti (Todd's twin sister), Todd
(Tutti's and Stacie's twin brother), Stacie (Todd's twin sister), Kelly, Krissy, Francie,
and Jazzie. Many believe Barbie was based upon Laura Bristow.
Collecting
Mattel estimates that there are well over 100,000 avid Barbie collectors. Ninety
percent are women, at an average age of 40, purchasing more than twenty Barbie
dolls each year. Forty-five percent of them spend upwards of $1000 a year.
Vintage Barbie dolls from the early years are the most valuable at auction, and while
the original Barbie was sold for $3.00 in 1959, a mint boxed Barbie from 1959 sold
for $3552.50 on eBay in October 2004.[41] On September 26, 2006, a Barbie doll set
a world record at auction of £9,000 sterling (US $17,000) at Christie's in London. The
doll was a Barbie in Midnight Red from 1965 and was part of a private collection of
4,000 Barbie dolls being sold by two Dutch women, Ietje Raebel and her daughter
Marina.[42]
In recent years Mattel has sold a wide range of Barbie dolls aimed specifically at
collectors, including porcelain versions, vintage reproductions, and depictions of
Barbie as a range of characters from television series such as The Munsters and Star
Trek.[43][44] There are also collector's edition dolls depicting Barbie dolls with a
range of different ethnic identities.[45] In 2004 Mattel introduced the Color Tier
system for its collector's edition Barbie dolls, ranging through pink, silver, gold and
platinum depending on how many of the dolls are produced.[46]
Barbie celebrates her 50th anniversary in 2009, and Mattel released a new
reproduction of the original 1959 Barbie doll to mark the occasion.
Barbie Controversies
Barbie's popularity ensures that her effect on the play of children attracts a high
degree of scrutiny. The criticisms levelled at her are often based on the assumption
that children consider Barbie a role model and will attempt to emulate her.
* One of the most common criticisms of Barbie is that she promotes an unrealistic
idea of body image for a young woman, leading to a risk that girls who attempt to
emulate her will become anorexic. A standard Barbie doll is 11.5 inches tall, giving a
height of 5 feet 9 inches at 1/6 scale. Barbie's vital statistics have been estimated at 36
inches (chest), 18 inches (waist) and 33 inches (hips). According to research by the
University Central Hospital in Helsinki, Finland, she would lack the 17 to 22 percent
body fat required for a woman to menstruate.[9] In 1965 Slumber Party Barbie came
with a book entitled How to Lose Weight which advised: "Don't eat." The doll also
came with pink bathroom scales reading 110 lbs., which would be around 35 lbs.
underweight for a woman 5 feet 9 inches tall. [10] In 1997 Barbie's body mould was
redesigned and given a wider waist, with Mattel saying that this would make the doll
better suited to contemporary fashion designs. Barbie's waist has been widened in
more recent versions of the doll
* In July 1992 Mattel released Teen Talk Barbie, which spoke a number of phrases
including "Will we ever have enough clothes?", "I love shopping!", and "Wanna have
a pizza party?" Each doll was programmed to say four out of 270 possible phrases, so
that no two dolls were likely to be the same. One of these 270 phrases was "Math
class is tough!" (often misquoted as "Math is hard"). Although only about 1.5% of all
the dolls sold said the phrase, it led to criticism from the American Association of
University Women. In October 1992 Mattel announced that Teen Talk Barbie would
no longer say the phrase, and offered a swap to anyone who owned a doll that did.[13]
* "Colored Francie" made her debut in 1967, and she is sometimes described as the
first African American Barbie doll. However, she was produced using the existing
head molds for the white Francie doll and lacked African characteristics other than a
dark skin. The first African American doll in the Barbie range is usually regarded as
Christie, who made her debut in 1968.[14][15] Black Barbie and Hispanic Barbie
were launched in 1980.
* In 1997 Mattel joined forces with Nabisco to launch a cross-promotion of Barbie
with Oreo cookies. Oreo Fun Barbie was marketed as someone with whom little girls
could play after class and share "America's favorite cookie." As had become the
custom, Mattel manufactured both a white and a black version. Critics argued that in
the African American community Oreo is a derogatory term meaning that the person
is "black on the outside and white on the inside," like the chocolate sandwich cookie
itself. The doll was unsuccessful and Mattel recalled the unsold stock, making it
sought after by collectors.[16]
* In May 1997 Mattel introduced Share a Smile Becky, a doll in a pink wheelchair.
Kjersti Johnson, a 17-year-old high school student in Tacoma, Washington with
cerebral palsy, pointed out that the doll would not fit into the elevator of Barbie's
$100 Dream House. Mattel announced that it would redesign the house in the future
to accommodate the doll.[17][18]
* In March 2000 stories appeared in the media claiming that the hard vinyl used in
vintage Barbie dolls could leak toxic chemicals, causing danger to children playing
with them. The claim was rejected as false by technical experts. A modern Barbie doll
has a body made from ABS plastic, while the head is made from soft PVC.[19][20]
* In September 2003 the Middle Eastern country of Saudi Arabia outlawed the sale
of Barbie dolls, saying that she did not conform to the ideals of Islam. The Committee
for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice stated "Jewish Barbie dolls, with
their revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of
decadence to the perverted West. Let us beware of her dangers and be careful."[21] In
Middle Eastern countries there is an alternative doll called Fulla which is similar to
Barbie but is designed to be more acceptable to an Islamic market. Fulla is not made
by the Mattel Corporation, and Barbie is still available in other Middle Eastern
countries including Egypt.[22] In Iran, Sara and Dara dolls are available as an
alternative to Barbie.[23]
* In December 2005 Dr. Agnes Nairn at the University of Bath in England
published research suggesting that girls often go through a stage where they hate their
Barbie dolls and subject them to a range of punishments, including decapitation and
placing the doll in a microwave oven. Dr. Nairn said: "It's as though disavowing
Barbie is a rite of passage and a rejection of their past."[24][25]
* On February 12, 2009, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Barbie won the inaugural
TOADY (Toys Oppressive And Destructive to Young Children) Award for the worst
toy of the year. The award was given by the campaign for a Commercial-free
Childhood for its "...host of harmful expectations about what girls are supposed to be
like."[26]
* In March 2009, West Virginia Delegate Jeff Eldridge introduced a bill to "ban the
sale of Barbie dolls and other dolls that influence girls to be beautiful" within the state
of West Virginia. The bill does not provide a punishment for violation, and Delegate
Eldridge admitted that the bill "doesn't have a lot of teeth."[27][28]
* In April 2009, the launch of a "Totally Tattoos" Barbie with a range of tattoos
that could be applied to the doll, including a tramp stamp, led to controversy. Mattel's
promotional material read "Customize the fashions and apply the fun temporary
tattoos on you too", but Ed Mayo, chief executive of Consumer Focus, argued that
children might want to get tattooed themselves.[29]
* The word Barbie has come to be used as a derogatory slang term for a girl or
woman who is considered shallow, most notably in the 1997 pop song Barbie Girl
(see Parodies and lawsuits below).
Barbie Challenges
Parodies and lawsuits
* In 1997, the Danish-Norwegian pop-dance group Aqua released a song called
Barbie Girl. It contained lyrics such as "You can brush my hair / Undress me
everywhere" and used graphics similar to the pink Barbie logo. Mattel argued that this
constituted a trademark infringement and filed a defamation lawsuit against MCA
Records on September 11, 1997. In July 2002, Judge Alex Kozinski ruled that the
song was protected as a parody under the First Amendment to the United States
Constitution.[30][31]
* The Tonight Show with Jay Leno displayed a fictional "Barbie Crystal Meth Lab"
which mocked how Barbie usually has a career that is "in keeping with the times or in
this case, in keeping with society's current problems."
* Malibu Stacy is a parody of Barbie in the cartoon series The Simpsons. The 1994
episode "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy" parodied the Teen Talk Barbie controversy, as a
talking Stacy doll is introduced, speaking phrases such as "let's buy make-up so the
boys will like us". Lisa is disgusted by the "sexist drivel spouted by Malibu Stacy,"
leading her to market an alternative "Lisa Lionheart".
* In 1993 a group in the United States calling itself the "Barbie Liberation
Organization" modified Barbie dolls by giving them the voice box of a talking G.I.
Joe doll, and secretly returned the dolls to the shelves of toy stores. Parents and
children were surprised when they purchased Barbie dolls that uttered phrases such as
"Eat lead, Cobra!" and "Vengeance is mine."[35][36]
* In 1999 Mattel sued the Utah artist Tom Forsythe over a series of photographs
called Food Chain Barbie, which included a photograph of a Barbie doll in a blender.
Mattel lost the lawsuit and was ordered to pay $1.8 million in costs to Mr.
Forsythe.[37][38][39]
* In November 2002 a New York judge refused an injunction against the Britishbased artist Susanne Pitt, who had produced a doll called Dungeon Barbie in bondage
clothing. Judge Laura Taylor Swain stated: "To the court's knowledge, there is no
Mattel line of S&M Barbie."[40]
Barbie versus Bratz
In June 2001, MGA Entertainment launched the Bratz range of dolls, a move that
would give Barbie her first serious competition in the fashion doll market. In 2004
sales figures showed that Bratz dolls were outselling Barbie dolls in the United
Kingdom, although Mattel maintained that in terms of the number of dolls, clothes
and accessories sold, Barbie remained the leading brand.[47] In 2005 figures showed
that sales of Barbie dolls had fallen by 30% in the United States, and by 18%
worldwide, with much of the drop being attributed to the popularity of Bratz
dolls.[48]
Mattel sued MGA Entertainment for $500 million alleging that Bratz creator Carter
Bryant was working for Mattel when he developed the idea for Bratz.[49] On July 17,
2008, a federal jury ruled that the Bratz line was created by Carter Bryant while he
was working for Mattel. The jury also ruled that MGA and its Chief Executive Officer
Isaac Larian were liable for converting Mattel property for their own use and
intentionally interfering with the contractual duties owed by Bryant to Mattel.[50] On
August 26, the jury found that Mattel would have to be paid US $100 million in
damages.
On December 3, 2008, U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson banned MGA from selling
Bratz. He allowed the company to continue selling the dolls until the winter holiday
season ended.[51] The ruling will be in effect on February 11, 2009 at the earliest,
and Mattel and MGA will meet in court on that date.[52] According to the terms of
the court order, after the end of the holiday season, MGA must remove, at its own
cost, all the Bratz dolls from store shelves, including the reimbursement of the cost of
the dolls and all shipping costs to its vendors and distributors.[53] The court gave
exceptions for some toys if they are packaged separately from infringing toys. MGA
announced that it would be appealing against the court's ruling. [54]
Article reproduced from Wikipedia