The good news is that any kid with this doll is like sending up a flare to Child Services that an intervention might be warranted.
The Week reports:
Barbie, Mattel’s iconic doll, has seen and done a lot in her 50 years. Now, for the first time, she’s been inked with a tattoo (see photo below). This isn’t Totally Stylin’ Tattoos Barbie who came with benign removable stickers a few years ago. The new “tokidoki Barbie” — designed by Simone Legno, Italian creator of the Japanese-influenced lifestyle brand, tokidoki — has permanent ink running up her left arm and across her chest. Mattel says tokidoki Barbie is a “funky fashionista,” with a pink bob and skull-heart sweater to complement her “trendy tattoos.”
Don’t worry, says Mattel. This Barbie isn’t intended for children.
What?!
Who the heck else is going to want this? You’re marketing towards who, other than little girls?
October 18, 2011 at 12:28 pm
Their other market is conveniently indexed on local sex offender registries.
October 18, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Really? You're concerned that this Barbie has a tatoo? That is what bothers you about perhaps the single most anti-feminist toy in the Western World. Please don't attack me because I used the F-word. I don't think any female readers want to go back to the days when they couldn't open a checking account without their husband's signature.
October 18, 2011 at 2:31 pm
Actually there's a big niche market among adult female Barbie collectors. No kidding, no sarcasm. A lot of these special lines they produce aren't toys at all: note the price in the article. I heard a great lecture by a classicist once on the evolution of the various Greek goddess-inspired Barbies, and how they reflect the interests of the collectors rather than any attempt at historical accuracy.
October 18, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Forget the tattoos, she looks like a hooker. A couple of years ago some relatives bought my sweet, innocent 4 year old an America's Next Top Model Barbie Doll. It went in the trash…same place this piece of garbage needs to go.
October 18, 2011 at 3:49 pm
There are a lot of adult women who collect Barbies. I don't know any of them, but they are out there. Sounds like this one is for those ladies, not for the little girls.
BTW, a tramp stamp is a tattoo on the lower back, just above the backside. Your excerpt doesn't mention a tattoo there.
I kind of wish I had pink hair like that. But I think I'm approaching midlife crisis. Or at least midlife blahs.
October 18, 2011 at 4:03 pm
Up next: S/M Leather Barbie! Also available: Submissive Ken! BTW, the inspiration for the Barbie doll was an adult "toy" that was sold in German tobacco shops in the 1950's. What goes around, comes around. Scotju
October 18, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Yes. That's really what this post was about. CMR wants men to sign checkbooks. How perceptive of you to see through their little scheme.
October 18, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Wait..we can get our husband's to balance the checking account? I just have to buy this Barbie? I'll take five… *snort*
October 18, 2011 at 4:26 pm
I gotta go with Amy G on this one. When I read the headline, I thought, "Oh. No. They. Did. Not."
but when I realized it wasn't a "tramp stamp" and just an arm tattoo, I thought, "Oh. Well of course they did, THAT."
October 18, 2011 at 6:02 pm
How about that freaky little pet?
October 18, 2011 at 8:08 pm
The first time Mattel made Barbie look like a prostitute, the creator who made the doll after his daughter, Barbie, fought back and told Mattel to make the doll look innocent. They did. The creator must have died. Look what they did with Disney after Walt's death…subliminal sexual symbols, perversion of every strip trying to make evil look normal. Boycot the evil thing, even if you like pink hair. Your granchildren will love you for it.
October 18, 2011 at 8:14 pm
Besides, Mattel copied the BRATZ face. I hope Mattel gets sued. Did you know that the marshmallow man in Ghostbusters was copied from the Pillsbury doughboy? Ghostbusters got sued and lost. Copyright infringment.