Children are easily influenced . If they see the same image often enough they will want it. Bright colors and lively or loud music add to the appeal.
Honestly, think of it this way. The media effects a lot of today's youth's action. So would you let your daughter out of the house in a skimpy little number like that? See they almost brainwash you to believe there "cute." It's called marketing, and people will do anything and evrything to appeal to any age grop.
I was wondering if any of you had read the book Born to Buy : The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture by Juliet B. Schor. I saw it in a catalog. It sounds fascinating to me, and I'd be tempted to read it if I still mentored. (Then again, I think we adults tend to fall into this trap, too.) It's about how children are trapped by advertisers into believing they need or want something that they might not really want or need. One of the assertions is that kids spend more time shopping now than they do reading. (Ugh!)
The skimpy girls outfits use less material and will be outgrown more quickly .
I wouldn't buy them. But I don't think people who do buy them are awful.
Personally, I think they're beyond tacky. I was flipping through the Target ads last week and saw what I thought was "Call Girl Barbie". My first thought was "Huh, that's amazingly appropriate...my second was OMG..I can't believe they NAMED THAT DOLL THAT!!" Wull. No. They didn't. It was Cali Girl Barbie, only the type font really should have been a little more distinctive, if you ask me. [img]eek.gif[/img]
I don't think either Call Girl Barbie or My Bling Bling are destroying anything. Mattel wouldn't sell these things if people didn't buy them. That said, I'm an old fuddy duddy at 42. We don't have any gaming systems. We have one television, and it's in the living room, and we do not have a television in the car.
If my younger daughter had ever been absolutely set on a Bratz, I probably would have bought her one, but she was lukewarm, I told her that in my opinion they were tacky, and asked her if she could imagine either her or her sister dressing like that, but followed it up by telling her that it was perfectly fine if other people thought they were o.k.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Er, Rowland had faith in the then current CEO, in whom she thought she had found a kindred spirit. Alas, the Board of Directors subsequently sacked her and replaced her with a former cheese marketeer from Kraft...Originally posted by MareGathersDolls:
And let's not forget, Pleasent Rowland herself sold AG to Mattel because she thought they could take her ideas and legacy to the next level. She had faith in them, so maybe as collectors who have faith in her, we should keep that in mind when Mattel run AG does something we don't agree with.
Taffy
Concerning the BRATZ and the My Scene Bling-Blings - I actually think they're sort of cute. My 10 year old daughter has recently taken an interest in Bratz, but still loves her AG's. I really don't think young girls think about dressing like their Bratz or Barbies. I know I didn't when I played with Barbie. They just enjoy playing with them.
I agree with Cami in that the anti-Mattel issue comes up waaaaay too much. I think it's very easy to be paranoid. Blame it on Mattel! I can relate because I frequent a Disney Cartoon MB which is very anti-CGI/Pixar, pro-old-school Disney, and we'd always blame everything on Michael Eisner. I also agree with Cami in that Mattel has done a great job with AG. I think they've been very creative, coming up with the friends dolls and LEs and some of the new playsets.
And on the subject of Bratz/My Scene, I'm not a HUGE fan. I buy some that I like, and I'm certainly not anti-Bratz, but my favorite fashion dolls are vintage, mod, and SuperStar-era Barbie and friends, Dawn, Darci, JPI Starr, Spectra, Jem, Maxie, Lace, Takara Jenny, etc. I used to not like Bratz and My Scene AT ALL when they first came out, but they grew on me. They have their own kind of appeal, a cartoonish, caricatured, yes, slightly trashy kind of beauty as opposed to the oh-so-elegant Fashion Royalty or Collector Barbie lines. I don't like the way the Barbie aisle has seemed so divided the past two years or so. I have compared it to the former Soviet Union. You have your Fairytopia, your Fantasy Tales, your My Scene, your Fashion Fever, your Happy Family, your playline, your Cali Girl, your Kelly, and your less expensive Collector dolls such as Dolls of the World, the Birthstone and Zodiac Collections at Wal-Mart, etc. And hardly any carded fashions! Mattel has really been producing less fashions, and just going to the high-quality but oh-so-random Fashion Fever Paks and some themed gift packs such as the Cali Girl ones. Remember the Barbie aisle in the '80s and '90s, that wonderful blur of hot fuchsia pink, so uniform and unifie?. Now, it's a mess. Don't get me started on Barbie doll's break-up with Ken. I always joke that Mattel is having Barbie going through a mid-life crisis. Think about it, she's 46 years old, dumps her long-time serious boyfriend Ken for some dopey surfer dude half her age, and starts dressing "trendier". And I also don't like Barbie's current face or body molds. Her face is way too narrow and her smile is no longer convincing, and her bodymold has a big derriere and very narrow ankles. I so prefer the classic Barbie body. Sure, it's out of proportion and unrealistic, but it's simplistic in design and oh so easy to dress.
Sorry to y'all if you don't want to hear my <font color="#FF1493">Barbie</font> rant!
Mattel doesn't do Bratz - Tower Records does. Mattel does My Scene. I do agree that Mattel has done some great things for PC. As for the bratz, they are scary. And their peg leg shoes are their feet not slip on their feet. [img]eek.gif[/img] But I think that people who enjoy toys should just enjoy them.
P.S. Ken is having a Hollywood make over and will be back in the Spring FYI
This issue sure seems to come up here a lot, and I don't get why. "Mattel" isn't destroying AG. Perhaps destroying their other lines, but I think they've done an amazing job with the AG line. Half of the stuff we have now (friend dolls, LEs) most likely would not be here if AG wasn't in the hands of some company that mostly wanted to make money. People keep complaining about quality issues, but perhaps I'm incredibly lucky, I have NEVER (except my AGT's wig, when she first arrived 9 years ago) gotten an AG item that was less than perfect quality. Everything I have fits everyone of my (even PM) dolls, and I enjoy everything.
Personally, if I had kids, I'd buy them any doll they wanted. Dolls are made to stimulate the imagination. AG is, obviously, one of the better doll lines for imaginative play, but I feel that's the "point" of all dolls. I'm not going to be one to kill my kids' imagination in its prime. Sure, I'd rather them just like AGs, but you really can't control what your kids like.
I think most little girls know the difference between "this is what my dollie wears," and "THIS is what I wear." Any little girl who is dressing like Bratz dolls isn't doing so because of the dolls, but because of bad parenting. Same with Barbie, I grew up with Barbies, and I never wanted to BE Barbie, I just liked playing with her.
I don't care for Bratz, (although I think the Big Babies are cute, in their own way, and I tend to gravitate towards them when in a toystore), so I hope my future daughter wont be too into them. But if she is, she'll have a couple, and I'll pretend to like them for her sake.
The only thing that bothers me about Bratz is that, while the line is, I think, made for girls in the same target age range as AG, the girls in the commercials playing with the dolls are definitely older than 12. If they think they have to use 14 year olds in the commercials, they should start marketing the dolls for that age, as well. Or start using 10 year olds in the commercials. Maybe they have? I don't watch too much tv with commercials that would be at this age range (most of the kids shows I watch are on Disney, PBS, and the TLC morning kid's lineup, all of which are commercial-free), so I guess I wouldn't know if they've changed them.
I agree with Bridget, I don't think there's anything wrong with these dolls, I just find them to be very unclassy, and ugly. But perhaps that's part of the "charm?" Has anyone seen the Bratz tv cartoon? Very odd, lol. I really think they should have given the line a different name, but what's done is done.
I really don't like where Polly Pocket is going. Simply because I still have all of my old compacts, and they're so cute! I wish they'd continue to make them like that, the ones they have now just seem like any old little plastic doll.
I do agree that it's sad that AG wont admit they have an adult market, and cater to it at least a little. They don't have to start a collector line (although that would be nice), but at least have a "club" for the over 18 fans, with the same (or equal) benefits of the little girl club. I would love to see an AG Adult Club, where parents (and just over 18 fans) could get 10% off any order, or maybe free shipping all the time. Plus some club only items.
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