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In a marketing move to tie Barbie to images of successful women and not shopping-obsessed teens, Mattel has launched Entrepreneur Barbie, a new Barbie incarnation that is backed up by a team of actual female entrepreneurs: the founding women from Rent the Runway, One Kings Lane, and more have signed on to serve as her "Chief Inspiration Officers."
The marketing tagline for Entrepreneur Barbie is "If you can dream it, you can be it" and comes with an accompanying hashtag, #unapologetic. It's a bold hashtag choice—Barbie used that same hashtag when she was forced to explain her appearance as a Sports Illustrated cover girl and there's also Rihanna's topless pose for her 2012 album, titled #Unapologetic. Hopefully no 10-year-old girl (or her mother) will be googling that hashtag with too much enthusiasm.
The doll also comes with an online explanatory brochure that explores the definition of an entrepreneur, complete with quizzes to gauge your entrepreneurial level (questions include 'do you love cooking?' and 'do you love crafts?'). Each Chief Inspiration Officer will also share their stories of starting a business through featured interviews on Barbie.com.
· Your First Look at Entrepreneur Barbie, Smartphone and All [Wired]
· One Kings Lane Reportedly Laying Off 15 to 20% Of Its Staff [Racked]
· Look: Someone Took Barbie's Makeup Away [Racked]