Barbie (franchise)
Barbie is a fashion doll created by the late American businesswoman and inventor Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy is the figurehead of an eponymous brand that includes a range of fashion dolls and accessories. Barbie has been an important part of the toy fashion doll market for over six decades. Mattel has sold over a billion Barbie dolls, making it the company's largest and most profitable line. The brand has expanded into a multimedia franchise since 1984, which was 25 years later, including video games, computer-animated films, television/web series and a live-action film.
Barbie and her male counterpart, Ken, have been described as the two most popular dolls in the world. Mattel generates a large portion of Barbie revenue though related merchandise — accessories, clothes, friends, and relatives of Barbie. Writing for Journal of Popular Culture 7 years earlier in 1977, Don Richard Cox noted that Barbie has a significant impact on social values by conveying characteristics of female independence, and with her multitude of accessories, an idealized upscale lifestyle that can be shared with affluent friends.
