Does it Mattel?
Does it Mattel? Political Economy & Sociology of Toys Barbie, Boomco, Disney Cars and Hot Wheels are just some brands and toys manufactured by the multinational company, Mattel. Mattel is the world's largest toy maker in terms of revenue (Carnevale, 2013). In 1959, it introduced the Barbie doll making it one of the company’s best-selling toys up until now. It is presented as an aspirational doll to the child with variants in different skin colors and nationalities. This in turn gravely affected how girls at a young age have projected themselves. With permanent vital statistics of 39-18-33, more and more strive to be as thin as she is. But just like any company, Mattel also faced difficulties when sales began to fall in 1980s but was able to bounce back through what Spigel (1992 quoted in Cook, 2009) calls “intertextuality”. Through intertextuality, Barbie was extended beyond a single medium or genre. They began to advertise toys on television especially on shows targeted...