Mattel’s New Barbies Will Look More Like You
New Barbie dolls, unveiled Thursday, come in three different body types – “curvy”, “petite” and “tall”, as well as seven skin tones.
Besides an array of new skin tones, eye colors, as well as hair shades and styles “the evolution of Barbie” will include a new career styles for the iconic doll.
In face of fierce competition from Lego, Disney princesses, other dolls and electronic toys, sales of Barbie dolls have declined 20 percent from 2012 to 2014 and continued to slide past year.
Mattel has made some changes in recent years; last year the company presented 23 new dolls with varying skin and hair color and a much-needed flat foot, rather than the perpetually arched one, created to fit into sky-high heels.
This criticism led to several changes in the marketing of the doll, leading to Barbie advertisements adapting slogans like “It’s a great time to be a girl” and “Anything is Possible”.
Barbie’s figure has come under fire for years, with critics arguing it set an unrealistic body image for girls. “And so, I think we’ll see in the next couple of years, these new diverse Barbies flying off the shelf”, said Penny Frank, a licensed professional counselor with Colorado Counseling and Consulting Center.
This photo provided by Mattel shows a new, petite Barbie Fashionista doll introduced in January 2016.
Barbie Millicent Roberts is a woman with a very controversial reputation and mostly it stems from her long legs, tiny waist, ample bosom, slender neck and flowing blonde locks. Parents who were extremely upset and frustrated with having to purchase a doll that didn’t quite resemble their child, can rest easy – there’s now a Barbie body type for everyone.
With this new development, which is already being featured in the cover of TIME magazine, expect Barbie to become one of the hottest toys to hit stores once more.
The new dolls can be seen online at Barbie.com and are available for pre-order starting today.