The most famous and most scandalous Barbie rivals

The commercial success of the film “Barbie” is confirmed by the fact that the “barbie mania”, which first America, and then the whole world fell ill almost 65 years ago, continues. One form of this pandemic has been the emergence of clones of the American doll. At some point, the existence of its own rival Barbie became a matter of pride for some countries and even continents, the same as the existence of their own auto industry or a national airline. Anti-Barbie’s popularity is based entirely on the popularity of the American doll and, ironically, contributed to her own popularity as well. Kommersant tells the stories of Barbie’s most famous and most scandalous rivals. The first one is celebrating its 60th anniversary this summer.

The very first

It only took a few years for the British to appreciate the commercial success and begin to envy their “American cousins”, issued Barbie. In the summer of 1963, Pedigree Toys introduced Cindy. For many years the company has stated that in no way considers Cindy a competitor to Barbie, but in Britain she was called the answer to the appearance of the American doll. “Bold British anti-Barbie” newspaper wrote The Times. And there is some truth in this. Cindy was pointedly the opposite of Barbie. No glamor, no model hairstyles and model looks, designer outfits. If Barbie was something to aspire to, then Cindy was someone to identify with. Clothing style is casual. The look is more surprised than inviting. The figure is normal. Girly. This is exactly what was said in the first advertising dolls. “Cindy is not just a doll, she is a real one … The girl next door who lives her own life and dresses the way she wants.” Of course Cindy had a boyfriend. Of course (this was the 1960s) his name was Paul.

Unlike Barbie, who adapted to ideas (inclusiveness, political correctness, and so on), Cindy changed along with the world around her.

When all girls dreamed of being flight attendants, she became a flight attendant. The classic sets, very British, were Cindy the Ballerina and Cindy the Rider. She has never been commercially over-successful. And therefore, when the crisis of 2008 came, the manufacturer parted with it without much regret. Cindy only returned two years ago. Of course, changing with the world. She remains both a ballerina and an equestrian, but in addition, she can be a “music star” and a “fashion blogger.” The manufacturing company has never disclosed the financial side of the case, but admits that Cindy “earns” barely a couple of percent of the $ 1.5 billion that Barbie earned just last year.

The most alternative

Unlike the British, manufacturers from Ireland, the Arklu company, having released their product in 2012, stated that their Lottie is an alternative to Barbie. Moreover, the entire marketing of the Irish doll is based on this opposition. “Barbie is a fashionista, with many brilliant careers and outfits … But she was invented to be a fashion model, not a toy for a child,”— claim Irish manufacturers.

“We decided that Lottie would be based on a 9-year-old pre-pubescent child, which allows us to focus on childhood and does not force us to directly deal with issues of sexualization or sexual identification,” explained Arklu co-creator Ian Harkin. “We want, children to be children and dress how they want and be who they want.” This is exactly why the Arklu designers made it so that, unlike Barbie, Lottie can stand on her own feet. They even made this feature in the advertising slogan.

But if in the story about Lottie everything is built on her opposition to Barbie, then in terms of the “ecosystem” manufacturers do not deviate from the standards invented by Mattel.

Of course, Lottie is different – from a ballerina to an inventor or a traveler. She has a boy friend. He has no name, there is only a nickname – “Faithful comrade.” Faithful comrade – in accordance with modern trends – an autistic who loves everything connected with space. Lottie’s accessories list includes houses, outfits, pets from a pony to a dog (by the way, she has a nickname – Biscuit). There is also a stable. All of these can be purchased separately. The assortment of Lotti is constantly updated.

Arklu is a privately held company that does not provide sales or revenue information. According to her representatives, more than 1 million Lottie dolls have been sold so far (how many accessories and faithful companions have been sold is not mentioned). Even the announced sales volumes cannot be compared with those reported by Mattel. But, apparently, Lottie does not compete with Barbie. But he simply turns the rays of glory of the American doll into money.

The most official

The words that in some countries the existence of their alternative to Barbie has taken the form of public policy is not an exaggeration. Iran is one such country. In 1996, they introduced a ban on the American doll, which clearly challenged state morals and morality. Periodically there were raids on dealers in smuggled dolls. One notable example was in 2012, when government news agencies regularly reported on police raids on toy stores and the seizure of contraband dolls.

However, Iranians found it more effective to combat barbie mania by making their own dolls. The task was entrusted to the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Youth under the Ministry of Education of the country. As early as 2002, the institute introduced Sarah and Dara, who fully complied with the ideas of the authorities about what toys for girls should look like. Sara and Dara are sister and brother. They are not very beautiful, and some of the Iranian girls and women even call them “ugly”. Naturally, they are dressed correctly. Naturally, looking at Sarah, no one can say that she is somehow connected with fashion or show business.

Doll marketing is official and supported at the school level. Sarah and Dara are the heroes of numerous stories made up by the propagandists of the Ministry of Education.

All these stories are extremely instructive and are built almost according to one scenario: a problem arises, dolls come to help each other, and if their strength or knowledge is not enough, they turn to their parents, whose wise advice solves all problems. Stories are published both in printed form and on audio cassettes and disks. Finally, both Sarah and Dara appear regularly on the pages of textbooks. The dolls are made in Hong Kong and China and sold in Iran at special prices. There are four versions of the dolls, which from time to time updated. You can buy them for about $15, while you will not find a banned Barbie for less than $45 in the country.

The popularity and commercial success of the dolls can only be guessed at. However, the fact that the dolls implanted by the state could not destroy the love for Barbie and Ken speaks for itself. As for commercial success, it was clear from the very beginning that this was not a priority for the creators of Sarah and Dara.

Most successful

Perhaps the most successful alternative to Barbie is the Nigerian project. “African Queens”. Its creator is entrepreneur Taofik Okoya and FICO Solutions Nigeria Co. In 2010, he showed a whole series of dolls, representing, according to his idea, different African tribes.

As the entrepreneur himself said, the turning point for him was the words of his eldest daughter, who, playing with Barbie, remarked aloud that she would like to be born white.

When the “Queens of Africa” first appeared on the shelves with different shades of dark skin, hairstyles and costumes that symbolized the diversity of African types, consumers and journalists voiced the following position: “we don’t need black dolls.”

Over time, they got used to the “black dolls”. They were more affordable, their marketing was extremely aggressive and covered the whole country. The line of “Nigerian Princesses” was added to the line of “African Queens”. Now Okoya speaksthat his company sells 9,000 dolls a month and controls about 15% of the national toy market. The main rival of queens and princesses – Barbie – does not sell so well in Nigeria. Moreover, according to representatives of Mattel, the company does not intend to seriously expand its presence in the markets of African states. Unlike Taofik Okoyi, who has already started selling his dolls outside of his native Nigeria.

The most correct

dolls Bratz appeared in 2001 and immediately became incredibly popular. Their creator, Carter Bryant, who previously worked at Mattel, did some work on the bugs and Bratz immediately came out in four versions: white Chloe, Latina Yasmin, Asian Jade and black Sasha. They easily competed with Barbie, in some cases even ahead of her on sales. And it was they who inspired the Australian scientist Sonia Singh, who came up with the idea to turn Bratz into a symbol of everything she herself believed in: environmental protection, the fight against commercialization, consumerism and sexism, the simplicity of life. She called her project Tree Change Dolls.

Everything was simple enough.

Sonya Singh took the used Bratz sisters, washed off all their makeup, reduced their lips and eyes, and sewed new outfits for them herself, on a sewing machine. It happened in 2015. The transformation became a sensation.

Newspapers around the world published articles about the project, without forgetting to apply photos before and after. The success of the project was also facilitated by the fact that Singh donated part of the proceeds from the sale of dolls to one of the international feminist organizations.

If, say many, and you can find a doll that would be the complete opposite of Barbie, then this is the Tree Change Dolls project. And it’s not just about image and ideas. Singh, unlike others, flatly refuses to spoil his project with mass production, continuing to make his dolls by hand and also hand sew clothes for them, but actively shares advice on the “humanization” of dolls. And, according to her fans, thereby gave the start of a worldwide movement.

Andrey Kelekeyev