With the presidential election coming up soon, 2020 is a big year for voting and Barbie is throwing her hat in the ring.
Today, Mattel unveiled the Barbie 2020 Campaign Team, a doll set and a full marketing program that highlights the importance of using your voice to vote and shows girls how to run a campaign. The new career set includes four dolls with important roles that can make a winning campaign, including a candidate, a campaign manager, a fundraiser, and a voter. The set features dolls of different ethnicities, including a Black candidate, to show all girls that they can rock leadership positions. The set is available at major online retailers starting today for $39.99.
Barbie has a long history of showing girls they belong in positions of power. In fact, Barbie has run for office seven times herself since 1992. The brand is partnering with She Should Run, a nonpartisan nonprofit that offers guidance and support to women thinking about running for office. She Should Run also participates in the Barbie Dream Gap Project and Help Her Lead, a course designed to inspire young girls to build political leadership ambition with help from adult role models.
“Since 1959, Barbie has championed girls and encouraged them to be leaders whether in the classroom, community, or someday, of the country,” Lisa McKnight, SVP and Global Head of Barbie & Dolls, Mattel, said in a press release. “With less than a third of elected leaders in the U.S. being women, and Black women being even less represented in these positions, we designed the Barbie Campaign Team with a diverse set of dolls to show all girls they can raise their voices. Our goal is to remove barriers to leadership by giving girls the tools to imagine and play out their future roles.”
Families can download additional resources here, including play ballots, prompts for girls to write their own campaign speeches, and other educational activities.
