Scheme to give Barbie dolls to primary school children

[ArabeIIaScott]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/21/scheme-to-give-barbie-dolls-to-150000-children-is-alarming/

'Primary school scheme is ‘gender stereotyping’ and ‘stealth marketing’ by Mattel, experts say'

'Mattell's "Barbie School of Friendship" programme, in which free dolls are given for children to carry out role play exercises, has been rolled out to 700 schools across the UK, "with the potential to reach more than 150,000 pupils", according to the company.'

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230720/Mattel-accused-of-stealth-marketing-after-giving-away-free-Barbie-dolls-to-schools.aspx

'experts have criticized the programme, raising questions about potential negative effects of Barbie dolls in terms of gender stereotyping, questioning the use of research to justify the programme, and asking whether companies should be able to freely market their products through schools."The project makes me suspicious that it may be exploitative", said Philippa Perry'

their aim is to make schools and teachers "brand ambassadors"

That, there, is wrong.

I posted my perspective on Barbies in schools a week ago way up the thread.

Here I was just responding to claims that the Barbie brand is super inclusive. They’ve diversified some offerings in some ways and I am glad about that, but their products are dominated by basically the same blonde, white look they have always had.

I fucking well didn’t.

@NumberTheory I don’t know how to quote so this is a screenshot of one of your posts. Apologies if I read it wrong but you seem to be saying the Fashionista range isn’t available in most shops. Is that not what you meant?
And no need to swear….

You've misread that.

@BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn it says “I don’t think I’ve ever all of the Fashionistas anywhere” and “and that’s definitely what I see on the shelves…”
What have I misread?

@NumberTheory if I have miss interpreted what you meant I will happily apologise.

I said I don’t think I’ve seen every doll of the Fashionista range available at the same time in any physical shop. How is that saying that the line is hard to get hold of?

And it was only a part of the point I was making about Barbie displays, which encompass much more than the Fashionista line, being still dominated by the white, blonde look. Which (again, as I said) you can see on the Argos website where the image of the Fashionista line was taken from.

And all of this is only because someone else up thread seemed to think that another poster’s perception that stores are dominated by the white, blonde look was a claim that there were no other Barbies out there. Again, for those who find it difficult to understand that not everything is an absolute, that is not what was claimed.

You might have a different perception when you go into a toy store, but I see what I see on the Argos website (though normally a little less diverse). Not a total lack of Barbies of other skin tones, but still more blonde than anything else.

@NumberTheory ok. I accept what you are saying. Apologies for miss understanding.
Retailers will receive at least one of each of the Fashionista dolls because they will arrive in one box (I used to work retail so I know how stock is supplied). Maybe the reason the non blonde ones aren’t seen so much is because they sell out first- ie more popular.
The thing is the blonde hair Barbie is the traditional Barbie (“Stereotypical Barbie” as she is called in the film). She is the “main character” as such in the imaginary world of Barbie. It’s natural there will be more of her.
The same with - for example - a range of Spiderman toys will have more variety of actual Spiderman than the other characters.