Mattel Agrees to Create Bald Barbie for Children's Hospitals
Toy Company to Introduce 'Special Friend' to Help Kids Dealing With Cancer, Other Disorders
Mattel Inc., the largest toy company in the world, has agreed to team up with a social media campaign to create the "Beautiful and Bald Barbie," made to honor those suffering from cancer and other disorders which cause hair loss.
The campaign was started by Jane Bingham and Beckie Sypin on Dec. 20, 2011, when they created an official "Bald and Beautiful Barbie! Let's See If We Can Get It Made" Facebook page.
The goal of the campaign, according to its official Facebook page, is "for young girls who suffer from hair loss due to cancer treatments, Alopecia or Trichotillomania. Also, for young girls who are having trouble coping with their mother's hair loss from chemo."
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Bingham previously told The Christian Post in January that she has a special, personal connection with the doll as a cancer survivor. When Bingham was fighting non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, she lost her hair during the cancer treatments. Bingham told CP that her 9-year-old daughter had trouble dealing with her hair loss.
As Bingham told CP, the two women did not hear a personal acknowledgment from Mattel for a long time, rather receiving generic emails explaining that only the company's doll designers could make theme suggestions.
On March 27, Mattel posted on its official Facebook page that the company will follow through in creating the dolls.
"Play is vital for children, especially during difficult times. We are pleased to share with our community that next year we will be producing a fashion doll, that will be a friend of Barbie, which will include wigs, hats, scarves and other fashion accessories to provide girls with a traditional fashion play experience," the company announced.
"For those girls who choose, the wigs and head coverings can be interchanged or completely removed," Mattel added.
Mattel is teaming up with the Children's Hospital Association and will be donating the dolls exclusively to children's hospitals across North America.
The company will also donate a limited number of dolls and monetary gifts to CureSearch for Children's Cancer and the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, according to the Mattel Facebook page.
Mattel began making the iconic American Barbie doll in 1959.
