American Girl Dolls have been making their way into the hearts, lives, and shelves of young girls around the nation for over thirty years. While other dolls have dominated the toy stores longer including Baby Alive, Cabbage Patch Kids, Barbie Dolls, and Mr. Potato Head, the American Girls are unique. Why? For one, they're female leaders in the form of dolls. Each of their distinct stories tells a tale about how they challenged the odds and social norms of their generation. They've given an insight to various historical events, from slavery to Women's suffrage. In addition, they've created modern dolls that have given inspirational messages to girls about defying disabilites, expanding their passion, and speaking out. So it was no surprise that when American Girl Doll released their first American Boy, it became a national story.
According to Julie Parks (who's in charge of the public relations for American Doll), Logan will attract both boys and girls who are searching for a doll with a more diverse and entertaining personality. Parks further explained during the interview with Huffington Post, "Adding a boy to our lineup has been a number one request for a very, very, very long time". Logan will be a drummer native to Nashville, and be accompanied by his musically talented friend, Tenney. Although Logan will only be a side character in the American Girl Doll series, there's a great possibility for the expansion of male dolls in the near future, including those taking part in major historical events that shaped the American nation.
Besides Logan, Mattel has been broadening their collection of gender neutral toys. including the popular make-believe cooking set, Easy Bake Oven. Other toy brands have been following along in their (Mattel's) footsteps, making their toys more inclusive to both young girls and young boys. In addition, Mattel has been expanding on their Barbie brand, by creating dolls with realistic body types, rather than continuing to manufacture the dolls with identical stick-figure body frames. The extreme diversity of their company's toys has not only benefited the company itself (whose profits suffered briefly in 2015 due to other toy brand competitions), but also the children and parents who've been waiting for a diversified collection of toys for several years.
Various news channels/social media websites including the Today Show, New York Times, Huffington Post, CNBC, and Buzzfeed have publicized and praised Mattel for creating the first male American Girl Doll. However, the Logan doll has created controversy and backlash. One article criticized the doll for being the stereotypical, boy-next-door who's only interested in being surrounded by girls for the sake of a quick hookup. Another article even went as far as to describe Logan as just another boy toy (no pun intended) that young girls can use as a make-believe love story between him and the lead singer of their Nashville band, Tenny. Twitter users even commenced to badger on about the doll's unnecessary presence to the new American Girl Doll collection.
Despite some negative comments and reviews about the doll, it's evident that Mattel has been augmenting their marketing audience, and have broadened their American Girl Doll brand to the female and male population. We can't wait to see what's next in store (intended pun) for these amazing dolls, and the diverse stories they will bring to children around the nation. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm about to release a great burst of nostalgia and childhood reminiscing.
