Thursday, 4 February 2016

The New Beauty Ideal: Barbies for the Future



This past weekend Mattel announced that it is updating its notorious Barbie doll to be more diverse with additions of body types that include curvy, petite and tall forms, according to TIME.The new Barbie dolls also will have a variety of skin tones and hairstyles. This should increase Barbie’s market, allowing a greater variety of young girls to have dolls they can personally identify with; the dolls look more like them rather than a standardized ideal. 

Mattel’s strategic decision aligns with current trends of political correctness and gender equality, emphasizing women should be focused on attributes other than their looks from an early age. 

P&G’s 2009 Always #LikeAGirl campaign and several GoldieBlox (toys for girls) viral ads lead the trend in women empowerment as a means to sell their products. Both campaigns use the perspectives of young girls to appeal to the larger female audience. 

 Barbie’s declining popularity in the past few decades is largely due to Barbie’s impractical body proportions. The brand plans to make the controversial doll more independent and feminist to appeal to millennials.

Mattel’s vision statement is “Creating the future of play.” As millennial moms are more focused on independence and feminism, Mattel also needs to create the message that they also represent that.

“The millennial mom is a small part of our consumer base,” Evelyn Mazzocco, head of the Barbie brand claims, “but we recognize she’s still the future.”

The brand wants to reflect American beauty ideals which have evolved to reflect more curvaceous body types like Kim Kardashian West and Beyonce. Along with the voices of celebrities, millennial feminist leaders like Lena Dunham deliberately show their un-Barbie-like figures, fueling the movement towards body acceptance.

Mattel’s new advertising focus is repositioning them towards a sector more aware of gender equality. They can be more like Fisher-Price, one of their brands that is known for having gender-neutral toys (they use primary colors rather than gender-stereotyped blue and pink).

In November, Mattel had even started advertising Barbie dolls to young boys. This shift in target audience shows that Mattel wants to appeal to a larger mass market and be a voice in the movement for change. 

Overall I believe Mattel is making a forward-thinking desision. Time will tell if their new Barbies are something that millennial moms will want to buy for their daughters (and sons)

Best of luck to Mattel
Cheers!
Laura

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