I appear to be on a holiday kick after purchasing my ticket to Chicago for St Patty’s Day next weekend, but today is National Barbie Day! In honor I have included the strangest barbies of all time:
Share a Smile Barbie
In 1997 Mattel released a wheelchair bound Barbie in the interest of being inclusive. It was great until a child with cerebral palsy brought up the point that Barbie’s Dream house was not wheelchair accessible.
Pregnant Midge
The idea behind this wasn’t bad. “How do I teach my daughter about child birth? Oh, Mattel created a Barbie just for my predicament!” The reason it got pulled though wasn’t because it had a weird magnetic belly with a plastic baby inside that the child could pull out themselves when it’s time to deliver. It was because Midge was originally marketed as a teenager, so making her pregnant was a bit of a PR issue.
Tokidoki Barbie Doll
Who cares that you can’t legally get a tattoo until age 18. Barbie’s hip. Just an FYI though, it’s $444.
Oreo Fun Barbie
What started out as a simple cross-promotional product turned into quite a controversy. Apparently no one at Nabisco or Mattel realized “Oreo” was a derogatory term. Fail.
Barbie Foosball
This wasn’t created by Mattell, but instead by a French designer. This is either incredibly cool or incredibly creepy, based on the time of day.
Do you have a favorite Barbie?