Doll is all about emotional boost

In your Friday editorial you argue that there is no need for a bald Barbie. You are looking at this issue logically and factually. But this is not the whole picture. We have all played with Barbie. As a matter of fact, a quick Internet search reveals:

Every second, three Barbie dolls are sold. With 31,536,000 seconds in a year, the total number of Barbies sold annually is 946,080,000, which translates to $3.6 billion in annual sales. In 1959, the year Barbie made her debut at the American International Toy Fair, 300,000 dolls were sold.

This doll is ubiquitous, and the issue is not about facts, but feelings. A young cancer patient may well be thrilled to have a doll that looks as though it is going through the same thing she is. It shows she is not as alone as she may have thought. Yes, she has friends and family who may shave their heads in support. Yes, Barbie is an ideal and has never looked real. But, Barbie is a part of our culture and when all is said and done, creating a bald Barbie to help a kid in a very difficult and trying situation to deal with a terrible disease is really a no-brainer.

It is not a no-win situation for Mattel. If they simply made the doll and marketed it as Barbie for the Cure, then donated a portion of the profits to cancer research, Mattel would have an incredible PR boost. And little girls would have a friend that could be with them 24/7 while they go through the chemo and hospital visits and surgeries. Can friends and family do that?

A Barbie with a head full of hair is not the symbol that bald Barbie would be to a child suffering the effects from cancer. As this is an emotional issue, you can spout facts all you want, but anything that might put a smile on the face of one of these children is worth the financial investment of a company that makes so much money off of these toys. That is what the Facebook campaign is about: supporting the patients in a way that has not been done before.

Karen Boe

Lake Stevens