Barbie Doll Case Study

The Barbie doll first entered the market in 1959 with the intention of fueling female-empowerment. The toy maker Mattel was met with a much different reaction. The brand has faced much backlash through the years for the doll’s body style that has been blamed time and time again for its promotion of an unrealistic body image. (Abrams). After having dealt with years of criticism Mattel has taken a wider view of the cross section of the female population and has taken steps in turn towards promoting body acceptance with its introduction of varying styles to the doll's future offerings. . Mattel’s new Barbie dolls will feature bodies that are made in curvy, tall and petite. These dolls will hit the shelves in January of 2018. The doll style

Dickson, editor of Mattel, has “tried to steer Mattel’s marketing campaign to focus more on Barbie’s career ambitions than her body image” (Edwards). The roadblock that has been a struggle for Mattel is the attempts to rebrand Barbie as a figure to be looked up to and inspired by rather than to be tied to the ludicrous body measurements of an unattainable body style. Sean McGowan from OppenHeimer and Company mentions how “(Mattel) saying ‘Yeah we stuck with that one single iconic image for too long, let’s try multiple ones” (Abrams). The changes that Mattel is making with their iconic It-Girl doll is leaving many to wonder whether this is a rebranding of a classic or new branding of a new doll altogether. This type of rebranding is commonplace within the auto industry, such as the Ford Thunderbird who had seen many style and body changes over the years yet the car name remained the same. Companies spend millions of dollars and years of marketing to secure a brands niche in the marketplace like Mattel has done with the Barbie doll. “When everyday people close their eyes and imagine Barbie, they envision her specific body and if that body changes, Barbie could potentially lose their status” (Stone). “Ultimately, haters are going to hate” Dickson says “ We want to make sure the Barbie lovers love us more-perhaps changing the people who are negative to neutral. That would be nice” (Abrams). Mattel’s greatest issue