The history of the brand begins with the creation of Barbie toy of the same name. Today almost everyone knows leggy blonde doll. This is not surprising. After all, it is the most successful doll in the history of toys. Barbie belongs to Mattel company – almost the largest toy manufacturer in the world. Products of this company are imported at least to 150 countries, in addition to the Barbie and there are also quite popular toys such as Batman, Superman and Harry Potter, which are produced under a contract with Warner Brothers.
The very same Barbie doll, despite its eternal youth, has already reached 46 years of age. It was created by Ruth Handler (USA), who along with her husband Elliot in 1945 opened the Mattel company, the original purpose of which was the production of moldings for pictures.
The idea of creating this doll came up with Ruth, after she noticed that her daughter Barbara is reluctantly playing with paper dolls, imitating adults in particular. A little thought, Ruth decided to release a toy with which the girls could fully “play in adults.” At the basis of the famous doll there was Lily, a character of the German comic. a femme fatale with a wasp waist and long blond hair. She fell in love with a very young buyers and quickly gained popularity. Named after Handler’s daughter Barbara, Barbie doll as soon spawned a great mania that the company hardly had enough time to produce new items to meet the most incredible demand.
Barbie is always responsive to changes and trends of the era, skillfully adapting to them. Changed hairstyles and hair color, the proportions of the dolls bodies altered. Mattel company released Barbie series of different nationalities in the ethnic costumes of the concerned countries.
Doll also acted as the most famous females of the century, just as Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor. When the struggle for gender equality has started, Barbie could not but make a career in various fields, and therefore turned into a teacher, a doctor, a flight attendant, and even firefighter.
After the changing a lot of clothes, houses, cars and pets, Barbie doll has got in the end in Guinness Book of Records, and became the exhibits of the Madame Tussauds museum. Despite the ongoing attacks and accusations in a negative impact on the child’s psyche (the girls go on a diet to somehow match the fictional image), Barbie, and to this day remains one of the most popular dolls in the world. There are several reasons for it. Firstly, this blonde beauty represents something what it wants to be a girl when she grows up. Secondly, the Mattel company took a very correct marketing strategy, gradually expanding the Barbie world, adding there more characters and a variety of subjects and thus consistently fueling the buyers’ enthusiasm.