The Rabbit Hole
The Advocate reported yesterday that Mattel has announced a new addition to it’s Barbie Gold Label Collection. Meet Palm Beach Sugar Daddy Ken.
Apparently this is serious, though a questionable choice for a Ken doll. He’s coming out in April 2010, and you can pre-order him now for only $81.99. The first line of the product description is Head to Palm Beach with Barbie! So I guess it’s safe to assume that Ken is Barbie’s Sugar Daddy and her latest “career” is gold-digger? What a role model.
Or with his “dashing jacquard-patterned jacket with a light pink polo shirt and crisp white pants” maybe Barbie is his beard? It’s hard to say, but we’ve questioned his sexuality before.
Well, this isn’t the first time Mattel has made some questionable choices with Barbie and her friends. Here are five of the most controversial, questionable, and even down-right offensive Barbies dolls.
I do not find this doll to be controversial in any way, maybe a little questionable, but when this doll was released in 2002, people lost their shit.
Midge is Barbie’s friend who is married to Alan and already has a child with him. She was sold as part of the “Happy Family” collection, pregnant with her second child. This was too much for America to handle. Here’s why:
Because of the outcry of enraged and concerned parents, pregnant Midge was pulled from Wal-Mart shelves. She can still be purchased on Amazon
This doll was a poor choice. I don’t know what was going on in the meeting where this concept was pitched that everyone ended up nodding their heads and saying this was a good idea.
Besides being a career girl (she can’t hold a job to save her life) and going out on hot dates with closeted Ken, Barbie also enjoys a fulfilling home life with her dog Tanner. Tanner is a very special pet, since he eats his poop. This set comes with a box of doggie treats (which look like brown tic tacos) which you can pour into his bowl. Tanner eats them, and then by pressing his tail down, he poops them out. Barbie can then use the popper scooper to pick them up and put them in the trash can–though she might as well just put them back in his bowl because he’s going to eat them again anyway.
Yeah, it’s a little gross. Mattel did recall the dolls in 2007, because the magnets in the scooper accessory were coming lose. You can still buy the set on Amazon for about 8
Want to see the dog in action? Check out the Fail Toys Video Product Review.
Skipper is Barbie’s younger sister. Apparently she was a little too young, because in 1975 Mattel decided it was time to grow-up. “Growing Up Skipper” was released with a new special feature: if you rotated her arm she grew half an inch in height and suddenly sprouted breasts!
Obviously this was an attempt by Mattel to teach girls about the wonders of puberty. Surprisingly, people were outraged. According to Dollrefernce.com: “just about every newspaper in the U.S.A. carried a story about her, some women’s groups & a few parents wrote to complain, but with sales expected at 1 1/2 million, the doll must go on to market.” And she did.
Check out a video of her magically growing chest:
Now that Skipper’s all grown up, maybe she’d like to join her sister Barbie on a little trip to the tattoo parlor. Why a tattoo Barbie? Want to be a little edgier? Trying to be a role model like Amy Winehouse? Mid-life crisis?
With the introduction of Totally Stylin’ Tattoos Barbie in the Spring of 2009, parents were outraged. Not only did Barbie come with her own tattoos–and the ever classy tramp stamp of Ken’s name–she included tattoos for the young girls to wear as well, and a fake tattoo fun for easy application.
This one has yet to be recalled, so hurry up and grab one before they do
In 1997, Nabisco and Barbie teamed up for what they surely thought was the most amazing and lucrative cross-promotion opportunity of the decade. Take America’s favorite fashion doll and team it up with America’s most dunkable cookie and you have Oreo Barbie.
The doll was doing great, until they decided to release an African American version. Suddenly the Oreo Barbie didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore.
Back in 1997, their marketing team obviously didn’t have access to Urban Dictionary to look up the term “oreo.”
Term for African Americans that the black community is generally offended with for betraying their roots usually for dating caucasion girls, dressing too white, talking too white, etc. The term is branded OREO since they are “Black on the outside, White on the inside”
So the public’s response was not so great. It sold poorly and was recalled as a result, but is now a big hit among collectors. Good job Mattel.
April 24th, 2011 at 2:02 am
you forgot the fantastic bdsm barbie! (blackcanary barbie) also the teacher and student barbie where you could see she wasnt wearing underwear wwhen she was in the box.