In the way that Sports Illustrated was a blessing to Kate Upton’s career, it is also a boom to Barbie’s – the doll that started it all…Or at least, that’s what Mattel hopes that the cover will do for their sales of the iconic Barbie doll.
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, Mattel, Inc. launched a promotional campaign known as the #Unapologetic Barbie. #Unapologetic, the theme of the campaign, is meant to provide Barbie and her fellow legends an opportunity to own who they are and what they have accomplished. The announcement of the campaign was made in a press release from Barbie herself where she emphasized how women have broken barriers and she epitomizes women’s empowerment by being proud of her perfect body. The underlined hashtag allows for a purposeful conversation within the media.
The partnership includes a four-page advertising feature in Sports Illustrated, photographed by Walter Ioos Jr., who has been shooting the magazine’s human swimsuit models for four decades. Mattel has also released a limited edition Barbie, in her black and white one-piece bathing suit, which she wore when first introduced in 1959. The doll sold out in the first two days it was available in Target.
From playing the role of a professional chef to becoming a veterinarian, many young girls over the course of generations have used Barbie and her three-story Dream House as a creative outlet. Justina Sharp, a sixteen year old fashion blogger, argues in an op-ed of the New York Times, “[Barbie] shows little girls that they can do it all, even become an astronaut if they please, and do it all in sparkles. She calmly accepted the criticism thrown her way, and continued to be herself, a lesson in and of itself.”
The #Unapologetic campaign is supposed to create a new wave of feminism, where Barbie is allowed to be proud of her perfect body. While some buy into the idea that Barbie is now supposed to be a feminist, others have pointed out that a plastic doll should not be comparable to actual human women. There are obvious issues with the collaboration, as both Barbie and Sports Illustrated have been in the spotlight for their unrealistic constructions of women’s bodies and femininity. Perpetuating these images of an unattainable, perfect body that is packaged as “real” can result in psychological issues for many women, as seen in the prevalence of eating disorders, depression, and low self-esteem. The alliance has created an uproar and debate through the media. For decades, both Sports Illustrated and Barbie have been targets of complaints about their depictions of women and the insinuation that a female’s career can only begin with a swimsuit, perfect body, and a seductive picture. Barbie might be #Unapologetic, but over the years, her impossible figure has given many young girls body image issues and the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated has perpetuated the same anxieties in older women. Notably, the debate over Barbie’s debut in the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated shows clearly the way media constitutes the culture we live in.