15281: Dr. Maya Angelou Posthumously Awarded Barbie DreamHouse…?

 

Essence reported Mattel integrated Dr. Maya Angelou into the Barbie’s Inspiring Women collector series. Um, is this doll (depicted above and below) really paying tribute to the spirit of Dr. Angelou’s Phenomenal Woman…? At least one advertising executive is probably rushing to nab the toy.

 

Dr. Maya Angelou Honored With A Barbie Doll

 

The doll is a part of Barbie’s inspiring women collector series.

 

By Kemberlie Spivey

 

With Black History Month beginning next month, Mattel, maker of Barbie, announced this week that they’re honoring Dr. Maya Angelou with her own Barbie doll.

 

Dr. Angelou’s Barbie doll honors the impact and history of the late great author’s activism and professional achievements and is a part of Barbie’s Inspiring Women collector series. Launched in 2018, Barbie dolls have been crafted after nine heroic risk-takers whose work inspired the next generation of game-changers. Dr. Angelou serves as the tenth role model to join the series.

 

“Our efforts include a commitment to spotlight more Black role models who are female, and now, we are introducing a doll that honors Dr. Maya Angelou, author and activist who used her voice and unique writing style to connect with people and inspire generations,” Mattel said in a press release.

 

“Dr. Maya Angelou had a multi-hyphenated career and numerous awards and accolades, including over 50 honorary doctorates and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Nominated for a National Book Award in 1970, her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings continues to move readers around the world today.”

 

To capture Dr. Angelou’s likeness, the doll is dressed in a floral print floor-length dress and matching head wrap. Accessories include a golden ring, watch, earrings, and a bracelet. The doll also holds a replica of the writer’s memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

 

The Dr. Maya Angelou doll is currently available for pre-order online at Barbie.com

 

15197: Dead Serious About Day Of The Dead.

This campaign for QLatinx puts a new spin on Day of the Dead. Hey, maybe Mattel will introduce a Día de Muertos Steven doll.

15189: Day Of The Dead Barbie Doesn’t Care About Dying…

Mattel is presenting a new Día de Muertos Barbie for 2020. Why isn’t she wearing a mask? The Latina dolls don’t deserve the same level of respect as the White Barbies?

15169: Barbie Shows Her True Color.

Barbie and Nikki “talk” about racism—although the discussion is mostly delegated to Nikki. Sure, Barbie expresses shock and awe to hear how Nikki has faced racial profiling and bias—yet the dumb blonde seems oblivious to the fact that she’s been around since 1959, while Nikki wasn’t integrated into the exclusive fold until 1996.

14923: BHM 2020—Mattel.

For Black History Month, Mattel released a new doll to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first Black Barbie. If Mattel were truly progressive, she’d hook up with Ken.

14791: ¡Dios Mío! Barbie Dolled Up For Día De Los Muertos Is Disturbing.

Adweek presented a perspective from Janel Martinez, where the writer opined the Día de los Muertos Barbie dances a tightrope between cultural appropriation and appreciation. Hey, it’s not the first time Barbie has crossed the color line and crashed her Dream Camper into Cultural Clueless country.

Día de los Muertos Barbie Walks a Fine Line Between Cultural Appropriation and Appreciation

Mattel’s doll offers a nod to the Mexican tradition without much else

By Janel Martinez

Mattel is no stranger to criticism over its Barbie brand. From limited, gender-specific professional choices to unrealistic body standards, the toy company has navigated its fair share of complaints involving the 60-year-old doll. Though Mattel has introduced several diverse, groundbreaking dolls this year—including the Barbie Fashionista line featuring two dolls with physical disabilities, the Inspiring Women series with civil rights leader Rosa Parks and Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and its latest release of gender-neutral dolls—the brand’s Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, Barbie straddles the fine line between cultural appropriation and appreciation.

Before the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, the toy giant announced a limited-edition Día de los Muertos Barbie to honor the 3,000-year-old indigenous observance that celebrates the lives of deceased friends and family. While the holiday originated in Mexico with the Aztec, Toltec and other Nahua people, it’s celebrated in other areas of Latin America.

The $75 doll, which is currently sold out, sports a ruffled, long black dress “embellished with heart and butterfly details.” A crown of monarch butterflies and bright marigolds sits atop her head and traditional skull mask, better known as Calavera Catrina, makeup adorns her face.

Designed by Mexican-American Javier Meabe, the doll’s dress resemble ones he saw his mother wear. The designer’s details coincide with the holiday’s traditions, as marigolds are the main flowers used to decorate the ofrenda, or altar, where the spirits are welcomed back to earth. The monarch butterflies are believed to hold the spirit of loved ones, and millions arrive in Mexico like clockwork just in time for Día de los Muertos.

While Mattel tapped a designer who is of the community reflected, the commercialization of Día de los Muertos is a growing concern. Held Oct. 31 through Nov. 2, its proximity to Halloween has led some to refer to the sacred holiday as the “Mexican Halloween.” Marketplaces and retailers like Amazon, Party City and Walmart often profit greatly from it as well. A quick “Day of the Dead” search on Party City’s website, for instance, yields an assortment of party supplies, accessory kits and skull or skeleton-embellished costumes. Consumers can select and purchase these items without understanding the history behind the holiday or having any consideration for the indigenous community.

Even large-scale companies have used Día de los Muertos as a theme. In 2017, streaming service Netflix built ofrendas at the Annual Día de los Muertos Festival at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles to honor five deceased characters: Poussey Washington of Orange Is the New Black, Barb Holland of Stranger Things, Don Salvador Iglesias of Club de Cuervos, Zoe Barnes of House of Cards and Diego Nava of Ingobernable.

Though Netflix contracted an altarist from Oaxaca, Mexico and the pan de muerto (a version of pan dulce prepared for Día de los Muertos) was made by an Oaxacan baker based in L.A., this was still an activation. The cultural practices and decor were used to draw audiences to Netflix shows, not to authentically and respectfully honor the spirits of those who’ve passed on. The activation was covered by a bevy of Spanish-language outlets and powered by Latinos at the company, according to Chile-based platform Upsocl.

Marketing the observance in this way lessens its sacred meaning.

“I feel like some people think it’s a costume, but it’s not; it’s not a joke. It’s not a Halloween costume,” said Jessica Resendiz to Latinx culture and news site Remezcla on Día de los Muertos.

As the sacred observance grows in visibility, it’s moved from regional and national awareness to global recognition. But does the money always reach the communities that have enhanced these companies’ revenue?

Take Disney Pixar’s animated film Coco, which centers around the holiday. The film generated more than $800 million worldwide. During the film’s creative process, their team visited Oaxaca where cook Estela Fabian Mendoza, who is said to be the inspiration behind the Academy Award-winning film’s Abuelita Elena, has reportedly not received any money for inspiring the role. Pixar has not formally confirmed the connection, but it has been verified that Pixar producers visited their town around Shiin Naa Lasn, or Festival for the People, which takes place around Day of the Dead. Said producers were also present at Taller Jacobo where Fabian Mendoza has worked.

While she’s allegedly “happy to see the movie,” truly showing appreciation for a culture requires more than how you position it. There needs to be effort behind how you’re tapping talent from within that community and re-investing the earnings back into said community to create an equitable, long-standing exchange. If Fabian Mendoza were in the U.S., she’d have a strong legal case against Pixar for using her likeness without permission.

Pixar or any brand looking to draw inspiration from communities that aren’t often featured in stories should first ask permission. Nike learned that lesson after the company used indigenous designs from the Guna people of Panama without permission. Next, do your research. What would be considered exploitative versus culturally competent? In working with a diverse collective of creatives, researchers and strategists from your target market, you’ll be able to formulate an inclusive, respectful strategy. Lastly, consider donating profits made—and if none are generated, explore other avenues of support—to this community.

Whether people are in agreement over Mattel’s decision, the company’s goal with the collectible Barbie is exposure. But while the company’s goal for the Día de los Muertos Barbie is to introduce their customers to a culture outside of their own, it can provide valuable lessons to brands and companies. It’s time to take it one step further from exposure to an actual investment into the communities that have sparked the inspiration.

Janel Martinez is a Bronx-based writer and founder of award-winning site Ain't I Latina?, an online destination celebrating Afro-Latinas.

12718: Barbie’s Multicultural Makeover.

Advertising Age reported Barbie is becoming more diverse with its Fashionistas line, prompting more diverse marketing too. The multimedia campaign is being handled in-house at Mattel, so it’s hard to know if there is diversity on the advertising team. The company website hypes a commitment to diversity, declaring the importance of “creating a workforce, at all levels, that reflects the diversity of our consumers and the population at large.” So it’s safe to presume Mattel ad executives resemble the Fashionistas.

Barbie Revamps Marketing Following Diverse Product Makeover

New Fashion-Focused Effort Encourages Self-Expression

By Ashley Rodriguez

Earlier this month, Mattel began rolling out the new Barbie Fashionistas line—a collection of 23 dolls that feature eight skin tones, 14 different facial sculpts, 18 eye colors, 22 hairstyles, and 23 hair colors and fashions. The toymaker aims to make Barbie more culturally diverse and reflective of the world in which we live. Now, her marketing is getting a similar shake-up. In its latest campaign, Mattel is refreshing its approach to TV, while exploring digital and social to build the doll’s role in pop culture.

The new push for the Fashionistas line, created in-house, is part of a broader 2015 initiative to empower girls. It included a superhero Barbie and campaign to highlight girls’ superhero-like qualities. The latest iteration, called “Super Style,” uses fashion to drive self-expression.

“Barbie has always been a reflection of the style of the decade but also of the culture and fashion that’s happening in the world,” said Evelyn Mazzocco, SVP-global brand general manager at Barbie. “[“Super Style”] is really about who you are. And fashion is the vehicle for expressing who you are.”

The effort comes as Barbie fights to reclaim its spot at the top of the girls category after being dethroned by Frozen during the holiday season last year.

In this latest campaign, Mattel is swapping out Barbie’s straight-forward, feature-focused TV spots with energizing ads that have a robust soundtrack.

“We wanted to disrupt the norm of what girls were watching,” said Ms. Mazzocco, adding that TV is still the best way to reach girls. “We call it a mini-music video… If you’re sitting there watching TV, it jumps out as being very different.”

Mattel also created a lookbook—available in store and online—that showcases the full Fashionistas line. And the Barbie website features a new game called My Style Book where kids can create their own fashions for Barbie. The brand is also working with YouTube influencers to talk to girls in a new way and spread the Barbie brand further.

“There’s an aspirational aspect to the Barbie brand,” said Ms. Mazzocco. “Using Youtube influencers to get girls to connect in the space of fashion and style was a great addition to how we’re talking to girls.”

Barbie is also building a fashion following on social. The doll’s Barbie Style profile, managed by KCD, has 815,000 Instagram fans and features the doll doing yoga, cruising by the beach and out on the town with a coffee and shades.

The brand has historically relied on traditional media like TV and direct-to-consumer messaging such as emails and mailers to promote its brand. This year, Mattel is spending more on the Barbie brand and using a mix of TV, digital, social and direct-to-consumer elements, said Ms. Mazzocco.

Mattel spent $13.4 million on U.S. measured-media for the Barbie brand in 2013, according to the Ad Age Datacenter.

Barbie is cast in a new light in an online stop-motion music video unveiled last week. Called “Who is Barbie?,” it showcases the doll’s new street style, diversity and versatility. Barbie, no longer bound by permanently pointed feet, wears flats in the ad created by Brand New School and rocks a partially shaved hairdo.

“It was kind of a risk and very different creatively than anything we’ve done in the past,” said Ms. Mazzocco, referring to the stop-motion video. “There’s something really amazing that happens when you bring Barbie to life in stop motion.”

Moms will be another big focus for the Barbie brand as it moves into the second half of the year, added Ms. Mazzocco. “We’re going to have some meaningful conversations with moms,” she said. “Moms have wanted us to listen. We’re listening now. And we’ll continue to do that.”

For 2016, Mattel will explore new avenues to take the brand. The next effort to empower girls will center on music, Ms. Mazzocco said. “We are looking under every rock. We are challenging our own rules,” she said. “As we go into ‘16 and beyond, this is only the beginning.”

StarCom handled the media for the “Super Style” campaign, and Golin and HL worked on PR.

7572: Mad Ken.

Mattel is introducing special versions of Barbie and Ken patterned after characters from AMC series Mad Men. Of course, there will be no need to include Black Barbie.

7144: Strong, Black Women… Sort Of.

Butterworth and Barbie in a MultiCultClassics Monologue….

• Mrs. Butterworth has a first name, thanks to a contest that invited consumers to create a name and story for the iconic syrup. The winning moniker, provided by two separate contestants, is Joy. However, there continues to be disagreement over whether the old woman is Black or White. Perhaps this calls for another contest.

• Not everyone loves the new Black Barbie dolls. Some folks are complaining the dolls have too much of a hip-hop flavor, while others think the long hair looks like a weave. These are probably not the folks you want to get into a debate with over the race of Mrs. Butterworth.

7138: Barbie—Black Is Beautiful.

From The Chicago Sun-Times…

A New Barbie Look
Dolls | New line of role-modeling sisters has African-American features

By Sandra Guy, Staff Reporter

Mattel on Tuesday launched its first series of black dolls featuring varying skin tones and ethnically authentic looks, with a big sister portrayed as a role model to a little sister.

Mattel describes the dolls as having “fuller lips, a wider nose, more distinctive cheek bones and curlier hair” than their predecessors.

The “So In Style” line includes three sets of sisters: Older sister Grace with younger sister Courtney; Trishelle and Janessa, and Kara and Kianna. Each character has a distinct personality: Grace’s style is “girly girl,” Trishelle is “smart and sassy,” and Kara is “funky and fun,” according to Mattel.

The big-and-little sister dolls together cost $19.99; the little doll assortment is $7.99, and the Stylin’ Hair doll assortment costs $24.99.

Mattel’s design of new dolls isn’t child’s play. Stacey McBride-Irby, a Barbie designer for 12 years who lives in Gardena, Calif., came up with the line because she wanted authentic and inspirational dolls for her 8- and 6-year-old daughters.

Mattel employs 25 “hair and face designers,” including two licensed cosmetologists, according to an article in Allure magazine marking Barbie’s 50th birthday this year. The magic still works, since “Holiday Barbie” is on retailers’ lists of popular toys for this coming holiday season.

Barbie has had ethnically diverse “friends,” both male and female, for many years, including the late 1960s-era Brad, Ken’s friend, and the “Nurse Julia” doll depicting the TV character played by Diahann Carroll.

Yet the mentoring role of the older “So In Style” sister is “a way of letting girls see that they can take on a positive leadership role,” said Reyne Rice, toy trend specialist for the Toy Industry Association.

“Girls age 14 can mentor girls who are 6 by teaching positive values and what it takes to get along in the world,” Rice said.

6220: Barbie Bitch Slaps Bratz.

From The Boston Herald…

Judge bans Mattel rival MGA from making, selling Bratz

By Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Shares of Mattel are soaring today after a big court victory for the toy giant that could leave a lot of young girls upset.

Yesterday, a federal judge banned rival toy maker MGA from making and selling its hugely popular Bratz dolls.

The pouty-lipped dolls with almond-shaped eyes appeared in 2001 and were an instant hit. MGA took the original four dolls developed by designer Carter Bryant, and spun them into a line of more than 40 characters, complete with accessories and related lines, including Bratz Boys, Bratz Petz and Baby Bratz.

MGA has made millions in profits, while sales of Mattel’s Barbie have slid.

But yesterday, U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson ordered MGA to stop making Bratz after a jury found that Bryant developed the concept while working for Mattel.

The toy maker will also have to get the dolls out of stores, but not until the holiday season is over.

6139: Not Playing Around.

Cutthroat competition in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• The Barbie vs. Bratz catfight continues to get ugly, with Mattel now seeking to shut down all future Bratz manufacturing. Mattel recently won a copyright-infringement court battle against the hipper rival dollmaker, but still wants to completely eliminate the competitor. Who would’ve thought Barbie was capable of doll genocide?

• Starbucks reported 4Q profits dropped 97 percent. However, CEO Howard Schultz thinks the worst is over. The guy needs to wake up and smell the overpriced coffee.

• Mickey D’s continues to experience sales spikes, mostly because the economy is forcing people to seek cheap food. Look for Howard Schultz to be ordering a Happy Meal and large McCoffee soon.

6073: Toy Wars.

A Monday MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Yoda beat Barbie in 3Q. Hasbro reported better-than-expected net income, despite lowered profits, thanks to sales of Star Wars, Playskool and Nerf toys. Meanwhile, Mattel missed Wall Street expectations with weak sales of the iconic Barbie. Wonder if the subprime mortgage crisis adversely affected sales of Barbie Dream Houses.

• A new study showed parents of obese children are more concerned about related bullying than actual obesity. An expert connected with the study said, “Since bullying is known to be a problem for children with increased weight, bullying prevention programs will need to be mindful of obesity as a potential trigger for bullying behavior, and of parents’ concerns surrounding this issue.”