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Promotion And Price Analysis

This is for all the little girls out there! What's pink and pretty, frilly and fun? A little girls' dream that's just begun! It all starts with Mattel's Barbie. Barbie entered the U.S. market in 1959. During a trip to Europe, a German doll called ‘Lilli' was purchased for a little girl named Barbara, daughter of Ruth and Elliot Handler. The doll was originally a quasi-pornographic toy for men, unbeknown to Ruth Handler of course. The doll was brought back to the United States, redesigned, and later marketed as ‘Barbie' a doll for young girls. ‘Barbie' is named after Barbara, Ruth and Elliot Handlers' daughter, and is currently dominating the young girls' toy market. Ninety-nine percent of all girls between the ages of three and ten in the U.S. own at least one Barbie, with the average girl owning eight (Brief, 2005).
Barbie promotions run through a plethora of channels, her primary areas though are television, internet, print ads, and point of purchase. Barbie is displayed as an icon, carrying her weight as a symbolic image such that people perceive her to be the image of a real woman. Granted if Barbie were human, she would stand 5 feet 6 inches tall, weigh 110 pounds, and have a 39 inch bust, 18 inch waist and 33 inch hips (Barbie, 2005). This, of course, is improbable; women could certainly not have this body shape. Regardless, Barbie represents the ultimate image of femininity and a symbol of women.
By playing ‘Barbie', young girls can learn early-on what it means to be a girl in a world where women are objects of consumerism. She has it all: a cool car, an expansive wardrobe for every occasion, tons of friends, and of course, she is the prettiest girl among all others. Barbie advertisements project an image to little girls, mostly targeting girls ages three through
eleven, that possibilities are endless. They (little girls) can do anything and become anyone they desire. With all of Barbie's many attributes, she can be anything from an...