Why Barbie Is The Most Successful Doll Ever

February 16, 2009

Interview with Robin Gerber, author of Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her

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Mike Carruthers:
On March 9th this year Barbie turns 50. Worldwide, she is the most popular doll of all time.

Robin Gerber:
She's sold in a hundred and forty countries. Three dolls are sold every second they say.

Robin Gerber, author of the book Barbie and Ruth claims that Barbie was created by a woman named Ruth Handler who, with her husband, founded Mattel Toys. Why is Barbie so successful?

At the time there were only baby dolls for little girls to play with. So if you were playing with a baby doll the only thing you could be was the mommy. The genius of Barbie is, as Ruth Handler said, " I wanted to give little girls a doll where they could play at being big girls - where they could play at being women."

And Robin says there was a lot of concern back in the beginning that mothers would not buy Barbie for their daughters because of her feminine physique.

And in the 1950's a man came on the scene named Ernest Victor and so he did a focus group and said to Ruth, "You have to market this doll as a fashion model then mothers will buy her because she will teach their daughters good grooming."

In the 1970's Ruth Handler got into a lot of trouble. She was thrown out of the company and convicted of fraud but she redeemed herself in the 1990's.

Mattel brought her back into the company as a spokesperson and at Barbie's fortieth birthday party Ruth Handler was sitting at the head table - so it was quite a redemption for her.
 

Complete interview not available.