This article explains the specifics of American Girl Doll's newest release: The "Homeless" girl.
Call me crazy but I think this entire ordeal is mildly disturbing. In the absence of any philanthropic purpose what is the point of promoting this kind of activity? Think about the irony of the entire situation. The $95 item is far beyond what a homeless person could afford for their little one to make them feel loved and included in this world. Nor does the profit from the pockets of those who can afford it for their little ones make its way into any sort of homeless organization.
So does this really achieve the goal of benefitting the homeless portion of our population or does it merely rub salt into their open wounds?
Think back to those days when you were a little girl. I don't know about you all, but when I was little i wanted to BE barbie. I wanted to BE Felicity Merryweather (for those of you who don't know she was the American Girl who grew up in colonial times). I wouldn't have gotten the doll if I hadn't idolized her.
So does this mean that some little girl is going to try to BE homeless? Instead of playing "House" or "Indians" or "Mermaids" or (insert your favorite childhood activity here), will it be : "Mommy, mommy, i'm living in a box!" ?
I'd be interested to hear any opinions on this one.
Sick, disturbing and downright ridiculous. However, I don't worry so much about girls wanting to BE homeless (any parents who will spend $100 on a doll will be happy to make sure their daughter isn't homeless...probably until she's 35) as I worry about making homelessness into Barbie-like entertainment and marketing. Using homelessness to sell dolls while not donating any profits??? Maybe American Girl should hire someone from Apple to come up with a more creative American Girl doll, since, evidently, they have completely run out of ideas. And since America has again surprised me with how low we can go, I'm moving to Europe.
ReplyDeleteI have to wonder- do you think there's a market for this? I mean its pretty bizarre. Who would buy their child a homeless doll and what child would want one?
ReplyDeleteTalk about bad taste...lets perpetuate one of our social issues and commercialize it.