Jezebel: Mattel

Barbie And Ken Break Up, And It's All Greenpeace's Fault

Whitney Jefferson — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 14:20:00 EDT

Greenpeace just totally broke up Barbie and Ken. When a surprisingly flamboyant Ken learns the truth about his plastic soulmate's cruel ways, he kinda flips and — according to facebook (below) — dumps Barbie. More »

Mattel Spoils Ken & Barbie Reunion "Surprise"

Margaret Hartmann — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 22:45:00 EST

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Mattel has announced the results of Ken's creepy online campaign to win back Barbie's love: She said yes! In a statement to USA Today, Barbie declared, "Ken and I were made for each other. Our love is grander than any dream house." More »

Ken's Nefarious Plot To Win Barbie Back

Margaret Hartmann — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:45:00 EST

Ken and Barbie split in 2004, but now he's mounting a campaign to win her back by Valentine's Day. While some hope they'll give love another chance, insiders suggest their relationship is just a sham designed to sell dolls. More »

Barbie Foosball Table Costs Only $25K

Margaret Hartmann — Thu, 06 May 2010 14:30:00 EDT

This week Mattel debuted "The Plastic Collection," a line of high-end Barbie art, apparel, and decor for the luxury shopper who's interested in a Commes des Garcons doll and a $25,000 Barbie foosball table (i.e. Paris Hilton). [WSJ] More »

C'mon Barbie, Let's Go Party

Katy Kelleher — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:40:00 EST

Barbie is going to flip when she sees her new potential paramour, Darren. With a little help from Jay-Z (who supplied the Rocawear duds), Mattel created this cute and well-dressed rival for Ken. [Nylon] More »

Well, It's Supposed To Inspire Girls: Barbie's Clothing Bill

Sadie Stein — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:30:00 EST

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The Christian Louboutin Barbie has already sold out on Net-a-Porter, despite a $150 price tag. But when you consider the real-life price of Barbie's new wardrobe? That starts to look really reasonable! Read on for the breakdown: More »

...And In Presidents Without Last Names

Sadie Stein — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:30:00 EST

The White House Project, "a national organization that hopes to one day see a woman president," is apparent;y settling for an official President Barbie. Marie Wilson, the organization's founder, says that "girls are interested in passion and purpose." [Boston.com] More »

Black Barbies: A Question Of Representation

LatoyaPeterson — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST

Mattel and Stacey Irby-McBride debuted the So In Style line of black dolls to record levels of praise - and criticism. "Three dolls can't represent the whole African-American community," McBride says, not realizing her statement is the root of the issue. More »

Charity Cases: "Burka Barbie" Angers Everybody

Sadie Stein — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST

Over the weekend, a producer from Fox & Friends contacted me, asking me to come on and comment on the new "Burka Barbie:" More »

New Black Barbies, Same Old Controversy

LatoyaPeterson — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:40:00 EDT

The mainstream media has finally caught on to what the black blogosphere buzzed about two weeks ago: The premiere of the So In Style (or S.I.S.) line of Black Barbies. But are the dolls going to be an adequate representation? More »

Mattel Throws Barbie Under The Bus

Sadie Stein — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:20:00 EDT

Because apparently their slipping numbers are all her fault! Boo, whore. [The Street] More »

Mixed Feelings About The New Black Barbie Dolls

Dodai Stewart — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:40:00 EDT

As mentioned in July, Mattel worked with a black designer named Stacey McBride-Irby to create the "So In Style" black barbie dolls, which are "closer to a mirror reflection" of African-Americans. The ladies of The View had some issues: More »

Mattel's New Black Barbie A Step In The Right Direction

Dodai Stewart — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:40:00 EDT

In an essay for The Root, Raven L. Hill asks if Mattel's new African-American So In Style Barbie dolls get black people "closer to our mirror reflection" than Barbie, or previous black Barbies. The answer? Yes. And no. More »

Barbie's Message Translates In China

Dodai Stewart — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:45:00 EDT

"Barbie attracts me because she's very feminine and independent…But most important are her pretty clothes." — A shopper at the new 35,000-square-foot Barbie store in Shanghai. [Washington Post] More »

From An Earnest Essay On Barbie's Boyfriend, Ken:

Dodai Stewart — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:45:00 EDT

"Impossibly patient and unfailingly loyal, he's always waiting for her at the altar and always will be until his plastic decomposes… [Barbie] is a slave to fashion, and he is a slave to her." [Slate] More »

"Metrosexual" Soldiers Getting ManiPedis • Doubts Raised About Atlantic Swimmer's Achievement

Katy Kelleher — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:30:00 EST

• In search of relaxation, U.S. soldiers in Iraq are frequenting local salons for manicures. Of his new beauty regime, private Billy Scott says: "It makes you go into a different world." • More »

To The Dream House, Spock!

Anna North — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:30:00 EST

Geeks rejoice! Mattel is releasing Star Trek Barbies in time for the new Trek movie this summer. Now you can make Kirk and Spock get it on, just like Barbie and Barbie used to. [Reuters] More »

XXX! Sex Secrets Of Barbie And Ken

Sadie Stein — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:20:00 EST

As everyone has always suspected on some level, America's favorite fashion doll Barbie has a seriously sordid past. More »

Barbie Goes to Fashion Week

Katy Kelleher — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 09:45:00 EST

Designer Jeremy Scott has announced that he plans to send a Barbie-inspired collection down the Paris Fashion Week runways this spring. More »

We Lost Samantha For This?

Maria — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:40:00 EST

Chrissa, the newest American Girl doll by the Mattel-owned doll company, will hit stores in 2009. She is the first contemporary doll and will have her own HBO movie airing on January 5. [USAToday ] More »

Writing at Slate, former Jezebel Moe Tkacik...

Megan Carpentier — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:30:00 EST

Writing at Slate, former Jezebel Moe Tkacik — whose 2003 reporting broke the news to Mattel that their own designers had come up with Bratz and then sold the concept to another company — writes an open letter to Mattel about how to stop sucking. In addition to suggesting a Caribou Barbie with Bratz-y kids, Moe thinks Mattel ought to try making less low-end crap, marketing better and listening to its own consumers. She's always tilting at windmills, that Moe, but with a rhetorical style we all miss. [Wall Street Journal, Slate] More »

Barbie Beats Bratz

Maria — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:40:00 EST

On Wednesday, a federal judge ruled that Mattel is the legal owner of the wildly popular Bratz dolls, which are manufactured by Mattel's main rival, MGA Entertainment. The ruling comes from a previous ruling this year when a jury found that the Bratz creator, Carter Bryant, was working at Mattel under an exclusive contract when he came up with the idea for Bratz. MGA is a family-owned company that has based its empire on Bratz, and the new ruling could mean the end of the company. MGA plans to appeal the decision, which will not take effect until February 11, 2009. [LA Times] More »

Barbie World

Sadie Stein — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:45:00 EST

We've been hearing intriguing rumors about a "Barbie fashion show" since September, and now: Details! It seems, in honor of Barbie's big 5-0, Mattel's wrangling a heap of life-sized designers — mentioned so far: Jeremy Scott and Vera Wang — to create people clothes "that reflect the world of Barbie" for a show at New York's fashion week in February. And if that sounds ominous, wait until you hear about the Barbie makeup line. All this swag will be available at Shanghai's "House of Barbie flagship store" where, says Mattel, women can "nibble on truffles, smear on pink-tinted mud masks and shop for clothes for themselves and their dolls." We have nothing to add to that. [ElleUK] More »

"Inside, girls face a dazzling constellation...

Sadie Stein — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:15:00 EST

"Inside, girls face a dazzling constellation of Barbie-labeled outfits and trinkets, watch Barbie DVDs on a flat-screen TV or choose their preferred Barbie hairdo. A rear door leads to the high point: the Casa de Barbie, complete with life-size Barbie bedroom, Barbie costumes and makeup counters, even a catwalk for showcasing Barbie couture or staging a Barbie disco." This, boys and girls, is the world's first Barbie store, a paean to Mattel's fifty-year-old fashion doll. [LA Times] More »

Dancing Queen

Dodai Stewart — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:20:00 EDT

Awesome news: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is teaming up with Mattel to launch the Alvin Ailey Barbie doll, the first Barbie ever based on a dance company. She looks very limber. [Crain's] More »

Lindsay Lohan Is No Playboy Bunny

Dodai Stewart — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EDT

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Lindsay Lohan has turned down a $700,000 offer to pose topless in Playboy. Since we already saw her nipples in New York magazine, what would be the point? [Page Six]
Meanwhile, there's a truce in the Lohan fam: Michael is actually saying nice things about Dina! And mom, dad and all the kids will allegedly all be together for the final service for Lindsay's grandfather, who died last week. They'll scatter his ashes in a Long Island harbor. [E!]
You know how Sarah Palin was on the cover of Us? Apparently the magazine "lost thousands of subscribers in the first 24 hours" following the printing of the issue. [MSNBC]

Fantastic Plastic

Dodai Stewart — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:40:00 EDT

The "Altered Barbie" exhibition in San Francisco (of course!) features Barbie in all kinds of non-Mattel approved scenarios: Barbie as wood nymph! Barbie with an iguana! Barbie with (gasp!) nipples! Photographer Danny Sanchez, known as "the Barbie guy" in art school, poses the famous blond in the same frame as real-life beauties, whether Vogue fashion models, female impersonator RuPaul, or showgirls from the musical Chicago. "She's very photogenic," Sanchez says. "She's always ready for the camera." [Reuters, Reuters Slideshow] More »

Does This Look Like "Intellectual" Property To You?

Moe — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT

I'm supposed to be in court in Riverside County, California right now. See, a few years ago I wrote this thing about how the Bratz dolls, the first dolls in the history of slutty-looking dolls to unseat Barbie for slutty looking doll hegemony (and the career ender of numerous highly remunerated Mattel executives), were actually masterminded inside the Mattel design center. Apparently they were scrapped because upper management didn't want to do anything to "cannibalize" their Barbie brand so the idea went nowhere and a doll designer took it to this guy who owned a scrappy little toy company that mostly specialized in competing for third and fourth tier licensing rights — like say, the right to manufacture keychains featuring crude electronic games bedecked in Pokemon logos — and that guy, with the help of a few more designers and a few thousand Shenzhen factory workers, turned the sketches into a multibillion dollar property. Well, Mattel is a litigious company — they were once known to sue Barbie fan clubs for trademark infringement — and when they read my story they apparently launched some sort of investigation and eventually sued the Bratz guys. Last summer I got deposed. More »

Barbie Goes Green; Berlin Sets Up Stalker Center

maria — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:30:00 EDT

• From Anya Hindmarch to Barbie, the trend of "Green" handbags has officially run its course. • Prep author naturally turns to Laura Bush for new book. • Juno is on top of the DVD-sales charts, those Hills ads work! • Did you know that we ascribe gender stereotypes to women and men? Groundbreaking! • Norman Mailer's former mistress dishes on sex life for 50 pages. • Lovers too poor to wed cozy up on bridge in Cairo. • India to increase penalties in aborting female fetuses. • Berlin set up a walk-in clinic to help stalkers. • Saudis are slow to accept working women. • Reflecting on meals can curb overeating. • Two fatal accidents at Indian weddings leave 43 dead. More »

Barbie Sales Flatten Worldwide — Are Bratz & Miss Bimbo To Blame?

Jessica G. — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:30:00 EDT

Several financial news outlets are discussing Mattel's falling first-quarter results, and most place the blame squarely on the slim shoulders of a certain doll named Barbie. Barbie, which was introduced in 1959, is now first-runner-up for the under-12 set, in part because of competition from edgier, increasingly-popular brands like Bratz and Hannah Montana dolls and in part because of the emergence of web-based toys. According to Portfolio, "Children want Web-based toys, and they want them at younger and younger ages" the magazine cites the success of interactive toys like Webkinz, and let's not forget the potential pleasures of Miss Bimbo). But the real reason Portfolio believes that Barbie is no longer the reigning beauty queen in toy world is because "at 49, Barbie is becoming obsolete." More »

Barbies (And Barbies On Booze) Are Big Business

dodai — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:00:00 EST

The Barbie 2-in-1 party Plane & Ship, marketed for girls ages 3 to 8, comes with martini glasses, bar stools and a disco scene, notes the Packaging Girlhood blog. The blog makes the argument that unlike the Bratz, who also have a party plane, Barbies are adults; they may drink and go clubbing, but little girls understand that these activities are for grown-ups, not children. But is pushing drinks to 3-year-olds going a step too far? Meanwhile, despite its massive recalls last year, Barbie parent company Mattel is reporting that fourth-quarter profits are up 15%, according to The New York Times. The company has huge tax benefits to thank, but people continue to buy this stuff, especially internationally. (Barbie sales are down in the United States by 12%, but up 4% globally.) And guess what? Profits in the wholesome American Girl division are down 2%! More »

These Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Barbies...

Jessica — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:20:00 EST

These Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Barbies sure do make great role models for little girls! Not only are they clad in hot pants and go-go boots, but their thighs are roughly the circumference of matchsticks. They're even skinnier than regular Barbie, most likely because Mattel is using something called the "Model Muse" body to construct these dolls as opposed to the run of the mill Barbie bod. Barbie's probably too fat to be a cheerleader anyway. Merry Christmas and a lifetime of self-loathing, courtesy of your local Wal-Mart. [With Leather] More »

My Scene Barbies, Mattel's skanky answer...

Jessica G. — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 09:45:00 EDT

My Scene Barbies, Mattel's skanky answer to the highly successful Bratz dolls, are being given away as part of McDonald's Happy Meals, and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is not happy about it. "It's bad enough that McDonald's continues to use toys to sell kids on junk food," said CCFC's head honcho, child psychologist Dr. Susan Linn. "But to lure young girls to its restaurants by promoting the worst sexualized stereotypes is reprehensible." McDonald's spokesbitch Heidi Barker retorted with this pat answer: "Barbie has been a familiar and fun toy enjoyed by millions of families for decades. That's why it continues to be a popular Happy Meal Toy." [MediaPost] More »

The Unsluttification Of Bratz?

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 11:40:45 EDT

When MGA Entertainment launched Bratz dolls onto the toy market six years ago, the dolls' huge bobble heads, giant anime eyes, pouty lips and tacky-wacky fashion choices made them instantly popular and instantly controversial. Earlier this year, the American Psychological Association cited concerns over the dolls' "sexualized clothing such as miniskirts, fishnet stockings and feather boas." Now the Bratz movie is slated to hit theaters August 3rd, and its producers are telling the New York Times it's, uh, good clean fun!

'The goal is to broaden the appeal by demonstrating to parents and children alike that there is more to these characters than what they think,' said Steve Beeks, president of Lionsgate. Mr Arad, who until recently served as chief executive of Marvel Studios, added: 'The one thing we didn't want is for this movie to be sassy.'

Point/Counterpoint: What's Up With Lipstick For 1st Graders?

Anna Holmes — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 11:15:55 EDT

Encouraged by sales of its makeup collaboration with MAC Cosmetics (left) Mattel is partnering with Bonne Bell to launch a Barbie-branded, "girl savvy" cosmetics line "aimed at girls 6 to 9" (Emphasis ours). After the jump, two Jezebel editors hash over whether Barbie-branded makeup for primary-schoolers is evil, innocent, or just a case of a company giving the kids what they want. More »