The Barbie Doll Business

Rylan Branch | February 22, 2010 | PimpHop, The Obama Channel | No Comments

(Editors Note- 22 February 2010)
This entry is an oldie but goodie from the Summer of 2009, and interestingly enough, while making my web rounds this morning, I bumped right in to Barbie on Facebook, while she was promoting her Twitter Page, and who else but PimpHop.com is willing and able to promoteÂ BarbieÂ and her profiles?

Barbie– Are you dolls following me on Twitter yet? Keep your finger on the pulse of my very busy life as a doll when you follow me @BarbieStyle!Â http://bit.ly/ayYzXz

On with the show!

(End Note)

Whats the good news?
It has been a few days since my last post, and it is simply due to the fact that most of what I am seeing in the news & media outlets simply does NOT move
me . It seems to be more and more of the same old song which cant possibily be considered as change, so I had to come up with yet another solution.

As I was watching the
Good Day L.A. show on FOX, which is a part of my usual daily routine, I never have to remind myself as to why I tune in, even though most of the news does not interest me. Perhaps I am just hoping that the start of the day will bring something interesting to the table, that is worth mentioning. Yet and still, I always seem to leave with something that I probably have been underestimating in value because I see it, or her at least 4-5 times every single morning , and the name of this draw is.

Jillian Barberie- Reynolds

After a few cups of coffee, a couple of hours later, I recieved a friends request on Myspace from.. should I say? Why not, its my show.

Pamela Bach-Hasselhoff

After a few phone calls to some of my associates regarding up coming projects, I began to ponder on things a bit further, and for some reason, the image of Barbie popped up in my mind, so I tied it together with Jillians name, to answer my own question as to why when she had on the stilettos serving up the weather forecast for the week, my spider sense once again began to tingle.

On to the discussion about the Business Of Barbie Dolls.
Between us as friends, a challenge that I have always faced in life is in the fact of how my mind works. I tend to look at the way things work, and if it is a result that I desire for myself, I think and act accordingly. It is at this very exact moment that I seem to encounter some form of resistance which would encourage me to think and act otherwise, yet since I enjoy winning as much as I do, I seem to have developed an immunity towards this type of scenario. For the most part, it is known as a double standard, meaning the actions taken to win and achieve success are often encouraged for some, while another set of standards are offered for others that many willingly accept.

With the Barbie Doll Business, I have done extensive research as to why this particular doll has so much of an impact on the westernized culture as well as its primary and side effects.
In the beginning there was what I classify as

O.G. Barbie

Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler (1916-2002) is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration.

Its actually an interesting and relevant story on many levels that you can research at the link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie

Of course, there have been numerous challeneges experienced by the company that produces these dolls, even though it STILL appears to be outselling the competition and is considered an iconic standard all across the board.
First and foremost would be the body image distortion issue, which is a scenario that women in America and otehr places that have been influenced by westernized culture experience to a large degree.

Another popular debate is in regards to cultural pride issues in regards to young and even some older girls who would be endeavoring to emmulate an unattainable set of characteristics, so after some years in Business, Matell Toys decided to add some multiethnic appeal to the Barbie lifestyle by adding some

friends of different flavors.

In this journey, the following question tends to reappear on a continuous basis, and even more frequently in this current age, at least for me personally.

“Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? ”
– Andy Warhol

In my own personal experience growing up in Southern California, the ability to distinguish between the two is even more challenging, and with this particular version of The Barbie Doll, known as

Malibu Barbie
you should be able to also see the challenge that comes with accurately separating the cause from the effect.

It is also interesting to note that the creation of the Barbie brand was around the same time that

The Playboy Brand
was also forming and growing into what it has become in 2009.

My personal stance is that I actually find a variety of ethnicities as enjoyable, yet as an African American male, I am usually supposed to have some pre set thoughts which are compliant with a script that was written by someone at some point in time.

In regards to the business, it still appears that the public demand for Barbie, and the status that she represents, is here to stay, so with that said, if its simply a case of some words and pictures

in the name of sound, tried, and tested business plans, I feel it best to simply give the people what they want.