O Barbie live-action movie, which premiered in theaters on July 20, showed something that the public was still unaware of. Rest assured, there will be no spoilers here.
In the feature, it is clear that not all Barbie products were a commercial success like the traditional doll, the doctor, the mermaid, the fairy and many other versions of the toy. Some were even collected by the FBI.
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With the exception of the part of the FBI, let's agree that it is common for not everything to be a success in a brand that already has 64 years on the market. They are more than 200 versions; naturally, one or the other would not be a good idea.
Remember these 6 Barbie models that were forgotten in Mattel's basement because they were sales and public failures.
1. Midge, the 'Pregnant Barbie'
(Photo: Disclosure / Mattel)
Here in Brazil, Midge became better known as “Pregnant Barbie”. As its name suggests, it is a version of the doll that is expecting a baby – which could be removed from the toy's belly. It was very shocking at the time and many customers found it “inappropriate”.
2. Tanner, Barbie's dog that poops
(Photo: Disclosure / Mattel)
As strange as it sounds, yes, this was a product from the Barbie line. Tanner ate little pellets of kibble, and when you flicked his tail, they came out. Well, by the “back” of the dog.
The toy came with a handle with a magnet so that Barbie could clean up her little companion's mess.
The best thing about this story is that it wasn't even the idea of the toy itself that made it a failure. It turns out that the US Consumer Product Safety Commission has stated that the tiny magnets could become loose and children could swallow them.
3. Barbie Oreo
(Photo: Disclosure)
Launched in the mid-1990s, this Barbie was launched in partnership with Oreo cookies. It was a doll with black skin and blue clothes stamped with drawings of the delicacy.
However, the toy came under a lot of criticism as people could associate “oreo” as an offensive and racist adjective for black people.
4. Skipper, the Barbie with growing breasts (that's exactly what you read!)
(Photo: Playback/eBay)
So (…) Mattel wanted Barbie to be present at all stages of girls. So they cast Skipper (Barbie's little sister) in her puberty.
By lifting the doll's arm, her "breasts" grew. The idea was to show how girls' bodies change, so much so that, in English, it was called “Growing Up”, that is “getting older”.
5. ‘Spy Barbie’
(Photo: Disclosure)
We're not talking about Charlie's Panther, but a doll that got into trouble with the FBI for real.
In July 2010, Mattel released a doll that had a camera on her collar and a screen on her back. Children could record what happened as a “point of view” of the toy to watch later.
However, in December of that same year, the FBI warned that the object could be used by pedophiles. There were no reports of this ever happening, but the warning was enough for her to be a dud.
6. ‘Hacker Barbie’
(Photo: Disclosure)
Called Hello Barbie, the doll was released in 2015. She talked, listened and responded using state-of-the-art gadgets, Wi-Fi connection and a built-in microphone.
It might be fun, but it raised a warning about people's privacy. This is because, at times, the doll repeated things that had been said days before – that is, it stored information in some way.
In other words, Hello Barbie did what her cell phone and her Alexa they do on a daily basis. This caused it to be discontinued two years later.
Graduated in Social Communication at the Federal University of Goiás. Passionate about digital media, pop culture, technology, politics and psychoanalysis.
