Why Barbie may go bald

How many of us know someone suffering from cancer? Someone whose cancer treatment has caused him or her to suffer hair loss?

A movement on Facebook attempts to get Mattell to get involved in helping young girls suffering from cancer and losing hair or young girls who find it difficult to cope with seeing their mother lose hair – by pressuring Mattell into launching a bald Barbie through a social media movement, notably on Facebook.

You can see the efforts on their Facebook page .

“We would like to see a Beautiful and Bald Barbie made to help young girls who suffer from hair loss due to cancer treatments, Alopecia or Trichotillomania. Also, for young girls who are having trouble coping with their mother’s hair loss from chemo. Many children have some difficulty accepting their mother, sister, aunt, grandparent or friend going from a long haired to a bald.

Accessories such as scarves and hats could be included. This would be a great coping mechanism for young girls dealing with hair loss themselves or a loved one. We would love to see a portion of proceeds go to childhood cancer research and treatment. Let’s get Mattell’s attention!

Emails can be directed to baldbarbie@gmail.com”, says the info page on Facebook.

This presents Mattell with a rare opportunity to generate positive PR for the profitable brand which has been at the receiving end of unfavourable PR over the years. The Barbie doll has been regularly attacked for the promotion of an unrealistic idea of body image for a young woman. The proportions of the Barbie doll, if projected in scale, will lead to a size that is patently anorexic. A standard Barbie doll is 11.5 inches tall, giving a height of 5 feet 9 inches at 1/6 scale. Barbie’s vital statistics are extrapolated to 36 inches (chest), 18 inches (waist) and 33 inches (hips). At 5'9" tall and weighing 110 lbs, Barbie would fit the weight criteria for anorexia.

Another disastrous PR fall-out was the Barbie booklet on How to Lose Weight, which said “Don’t Eat” on the back cover.

There are some categories of products, such as carbonated drinks, junk food, cigarettes an d tobacco which will always find it close to impossible to receive positive coverage in news media.

The concept of the Bald Barbie is one that Mattell will be stupid not to explore – and indeed, not to create. The upside is just too big to ignore. The bonus is that the SM campaign is already gaining traction (the FB page has almost 31,000 likes) – and you have awareness for a product which does not even exist yet.