Barbie Fashionistas
Despite protests: Mattel wants to stay "woke"
2.2.2023
Translation: machine translated
Manufacturer Mattel - responsible for Barbie and Hot Wheels, for example - brings toys onto the market that are inclusive. Despite the sometimes negative feedback, Mattel intends to stick to this strategy, as a manager has now explained.
How do you imagine the stereotypical Barbie doll? She is blonde, big-breasted and has long legs. This may convey an unrealistic ideal of beauty to children, which is why Mattel, the brand behind the doll, has been criticised time and again. But the company wants to move away from this image. For some time now, the toy giant has been launching various inclusive toys on the market.
This sometimes works more, sometimes less well. With Barbie dolls, for example, there are some who are in wheelchairs, have skin conditions or need a hearing aid.
Diverse Barbies are in demand
Sebastian Trischler is responsible for Germany, Austria and Switzerland at Mattel Manager, and in an interview with T-Online he says: "Our diverse Barbies are a great commercial success. It makes us happy that our goal of bringing more variety into children's rooms has been so well received." However, he could not say exactly how high their share of the 76 million Barbies sold in total last year was. "But with the Fashionista Barbies, the range with the largest selection of body shapes and skin colours, eight out of ten dolls sold are now diverse."
This was different, for example, when Mattel became the first toy manufacturer to launch a gender-neutral doll on the market in 2019. Mattel had to realise "that German society was not yet ready". The doll did not sell well and has since been removed from the range, says Trischler. In contrast, the reactions to a trans Barbie modelled on the actress Laverne Cox have been consistently positive.
"That earned us a proper shitstorm"
In addition to Barbies, Mattel also produces Hot Wheels cars and board games such as Uno and Scrabble. However, when the gender star was added to the letter game Scrabble 2022, the reactions of some fans were anything but positive.
"That earned us a decent shitstorm in Germany," says Trischler. "We are aware that many people continue to reject gendering." However, Mattel sees itself as a role model, as toys influence the younger generation.
Mattel has no plans to change its strategy of bringing more diversity into the nursery. "We want to help children develop and we know that discrimination starts at a young age. That's why we want to raise awareness of different realities of life." The manufacturer is therefore likely to continue to bring toys onto the market that are designed to promote inclusion.
According to Trischler, however, it ultimately depends on the parents whether alternative toys make it into the children's room - Mattel only provides the toys on sale.
Cover photo: Mattel
A true local journalist with a secret soft spot for German pop music. Mum of two boys, a dog and about 400 toy cars in all shapes and colours. I always enjoy travelling, reading and go to concerts, too.