While the marketing juggernaut for "Barbie," the new Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling film, keeps rolling, The BMJ believes that using Mattel's doll in primary schools for health and social development is a step too far.
The placement of Barbie and Ken dolls comes from Mattel's so-called "Barbie School of Friendship" program, which, since the start of the year, has seen dolls given free of charge to children aged 4 to 12 across the U.K.
The idea is to build up kids’ development by having them use the dolls, which Mattel has over the years diversified in terms of race, disability and sexuality, to carry out role play exercises.
The program has already been rolled out to 700 schools across the U.K., with, per the company's website, "the potential to reach more than 150,000 pupils."
Under the program, each school gets the following: 12 Barbie and Ken dolls, four ready-made lessons with presentations for each lesson, a teacher guide, additional guidance for children with special education needs and disabilities, emotion flashcards, pupil certificates and stickers, an emotions wheel poster, a competition leaflet, information to give to parents and additional cut-out dolls for lessons.
But The BMJ, the U.K.’s leading health journal, says experts are “alarmed” by the initiative, with an accompanying editorial saying it “raises questions about whether companies should be able to freely market their products in schools,” especially under the guise of promoting health.
Mattel, pointing to sponsored research, told The BMJ playing with dolls offers “major benefits” for child development, including empathy, though experts talking to The BMJ contend this continues gender stereotyping while also questioning the use of this type of research to justify the program.
“The project makes me suspicious that it may be exploitative," said Philippa Perry, a psychotherapist and author of books on parenting and education, in The BMJ’s report.
“Commercial entities like Mattel are not experts in children’s health or education, they are experts in selling products to maximise profits”, added May van Schalkwyk, a specialist registrar in public health and NIHR doctoral research fellow at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. “The Mattel materials are heavily branded—why should children be exposed to this type of stealth marketing?"