Mattel : World of Barbies

I remembered having this conversation with a friend two days ago. It all started when he told me that he's changing his job. The conversation goes like this :

A: I'm moving to PJ area soon.
me : Ooh really? cool. You finally see the light huh? ;P
A: Yeah guess so. I'm changing my job soon.
me : to?
A: Mattel!
me: cool! Barbie dolls!
A: Yeah, I know but I'm not up for it. I'm giving you Hotwheels instead.
me: WHY? I want Barbies!
A: NONO. I'm giving all my girlfriends Hotwheels and all my guy friends Barbies! Oh yeah, tell all your girlfriends that I've got all the barbies! Ask them to give me a call if they want one.
me: Urgh. Not Fair! Give me Ken then.
A : Huh?
me: Ooh, I mean Ken, Barbie's Ken per se. Not you! ;P
A : Hey! why not me? ;P

( Well, to cut the long story short, my friend : A apparently has the same name as Ken's )

After talking about Barbie dolls, it somehow brought back great reminiscence of my childhood days. I used to own 5 Barbie dolls! yes, I was a spoilt brat. Back then, my bestie, Francine and I had to share one Ken. Imagine, 8 barbies fighting for a KEN! It was horrendous. We used to take him for alternate days and one fine day, we fought over a Ken. Guess what? His head fell off! We had to glue him back. It was truly humorous but back then we were pretty sad about it. That's just a little recap of my childhood story that I'll remember for life.

Anyway, this barbie dolls thingie make me wonder. Barbie came about, taking the world by storm in 1959. Barbie symbolizes the innocence of youth with her charm, charisma and good looks.She was inspired by Mattel's co-founder, Ruth Handler. It has been 4 decades now and Barbie remains one of the hottest selling toys in the world!

I'm amazed with how Mattel grows and create such dreams or needs for little boys and girls. It taught girls how to dream big, dream pretty and wait for our Ken-s. Everything seem so perfect in that perfected world. It became not only a girl's dream but also a woman's dream to be like one.In reality, neither barbie nor Ken is perfect. Non- of us are. However, credit given I must say, for a great vision created back then by the founder.

Mattel, being the world's premier toy brands for today and tomorrow, probably back then as well. I'm astonished with how they've created this strong brand among million of kids! Mind you, kids remember things pretty well. I can testify to that. According to Fortune, Mattel is one of the 100 best companies to work for ( 2008). So Ken, be rest assured that you've made the right choice. Yes, I still want my barbie dolls! (:


By the way, Barbie dumped Ken. Haven't you heard already? haha!

Every little girls dream

The plastic Barbie & Ken
Vs

The real Barbie & Ken?

( Acknowledgment : sources from mattel.com )