While it’s too soon to see how the new Barbie dolls helped sales, reaction online has been 90 percent positive according to data from Brandwatch.
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The makers of Barbie are responding to cries for the iconic dolls to show more diversity.
The latest changes to Barbie come after new skin tones and looks were added past year.
The 23 dolls of the Barbie Fashionista line, which started rolling out in January, represent eight different skin tones, 14 facial structures, 22 hairstyles, 23 hair colors and 18 eye colors.
The new dolls can be viewed on Barbie.com and will be available to order starting today on Shop.Mattel.com in the U.S. The collection will be available starting in spring 2016 at major toy retailers worldwide. The line comes in seven skin tones and 24 hairstyles. As a mother of three girls, Mazzocco was conscious of the need to create a more realistic and inclusive doll.
The launch of new diverse options came after years of criticism that its original impossibly busty Barbie with a narrow waist has misled girls with an unrealistic ideal, despite modifications in recent years.
Richard Dickson, president and chief operating officer at Mattel, said: “Barbie has reflected the world girls see around them. She was designed for girls to easily dress and undress”, Kimberly Culmone, vice president of Barbie Global Creative, explained in 2014 in an interview with the website Fast Company. This is partly thanks to new competition in the toy market, but is also due to the negative public perception of the brand.
“Thank you @Barbie”, one Twitter user posted Thursday.
“Times are changing all around – two women can get married, two men can get married – and it’s important to talk about big changes in society that have been a long time coming”, she said.
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After the new Barbie body types were announced on Thursday, social media lit up with messages of praise.
