You're right Rathna - I think Architect Barbie might be going a little too
far. But it gets worse. What about Barbie as a weapon in an American
"..battle for the hearts and minds that will ultimately provide our own
security while helping the Islamic world make their societies fertile for
democracy, economic development, women's rights and the other blessings we
take for granted."(Brandweek, 6/10/2002, Vol. 43 Issue 23, p22). I've copied
the article below.

SELL THE WEST AS A BRAND: Remember the attacks on Barbie by feminist groups
claiming that the world's most popular doll was responsible for young girls
developing an unattainable sense of beauty, culminating in self-loathing,
lack of self-esteem and even anorexia years after dressing and undressing
Barbie had come to an end?

Well, Barbie has a new foe now. The New York Times reports that the
government of Iran has ordered police officers to comb store shelves to
confiscate Barbie dolls following a ruling that they are "un-Islamic" In
Barbie's place, a chador-wearing doll--presumably with the veil and gown
glued on--is being offered by Iranian toy makers, along with a Ken-like
companion who is marketed not as a boyfriend but as a twin brother.

While superficially humorous, this news report adds to my sense of gloom
following the tragedy of Sept. 11. Like most Americans, I'm concerned about
the "next" attack, and I continue to mourn the senseless loss of life from
that awful day. But, the fundamentalist Islamic world's rejection of Western
values and Western icons is what upsets me most because it suggests new
Islamic generations will be raised to tear down what we have built up, while
missing the opportunity to build themselves up, as well.

The creation of the indigenous Barbie knock-off isn't the problem. Although
I'm a passionate globalization supporter, I think local cultures do well to
generate their own entertainments, amusements and lifestyles. The problem
here is the use of police officers to hunt down Barbie dolls because little
girls might somehow engage Western sensibilities and be corrupted by the
encounter.

Heinrich Heine, the great German philosopher, writing nearly 100 years
before the Holocaust, noted: "Where books are burnt, human beings are
destined to be burnt, too." To contemporize this thought, we might say that
when Barbie dolls are confiscated and Western icons are demonized, suicide
bombers and weapons of mass destruction can't be far behind.

For marketers, we need to first be marketers of an idea--the value of
Western values--before we can begin to be marketers of products and services
to these some one billion consumers, many of whom live in territories of
enormous fossil fuel wealth, but a poverty of quality goods and services.

Bernard Lewis, one of the greatest scholars of the Islamic world, in his
book What Went Wrong?: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response (Oxford
University Press, 2002), completed immediately before the terrorist attacks
in New York and Washington, D.C., writes that, for many centuries, Islam was
a cutting edge civilization leading the world in science, arts and
achievement. But for the past several hundreds of years, the Islamic world,
he writes, has been in decline, fueled by "grievance and victimhood." If
they can reverse course, he concludes, "they can once again make the Middle
East, in modern times as it was in antiquity and in the Middle Ages, a major
center of civilization"

We marketers can play an important role in the decision-making process and
the outcome. While diplomacy and military force will continue to play their
roles, it is the battle for the hearts and minds that will ultimately
provide our own security while helping the Islamic world make their
societies fertile for democracy, economic development, women's rights and
the other blessings we take for granted.

The Bush Administration has begun a very few marketing and pr initiatives,
largely understaffed and underfunded. Most of the efforts seem to focus on
rebutting the most notorious fabrications and manipulations of objective
facts, similar to the way in which Radio Free Europe brought information to
closed, Soviet-dominated countries during the Cold War. This, certainly, is
important and valuable, but only a small and, if standing alone, an
ultimately irrelevant, first step.

We need to unapologetically "sell" the West, our values, traditions,
successes and society to those who don't know us, and to those who think
they do but who have concluded we are immoral, corrupt and rotten. We have
the better "product" and should be aggressive in pitching it in targeted
local markets with thematically consistent messages. If Saudi Arabia can
contract an American pr firm to burnish its image in the minds of U.S.
citizens [Brandweek, May 13], why don't we recognize the need to do the
same?

Some may cry "cultural imperialism," but, rather, this is the marketplace of
ideas at work, a marketplace from which we've absented ourselves, leaving
others with hostile messages complete control of the agenda. It's not a
simple task to get devoted "brand" adherents to sample another brand, and
it's even harder to get consumers to switch long-held loyalties, but a
vigorous, all-out campaign must be made starting immediately We must do this
not to make the world clamor for Barbie and other Western products, but
instead, to open themselves and their societies to the best ideas of Western
civilization.

As a bonus, our passionate advocacy and efforts will remind our own society
about what is so special about our Western way of life, why we may be called
upon to sacrifice, and why we fight.


By Seth M. Siegel




----- Original Message -----
From: "Rathna Ramanathan" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, December 16, 2002 8:35 AM
Subject: Re: Architect Barbie


> I find myself a little bit taken aback with the 'Architect Barbie' emails
> having grown up with tales and toys from different cultures, sizes,
colours
> and shapes.
>
> Before we go to add our votes to such an enterprise, have we thought about
> the kind of stereo-typing we are encouraging? What are we saying about
> these kind of role-models that are provided for young girls today?
>
> Anyone who has seen a Barbie would realise that she isn't what one would
> term ideal for a young girl to play with. She is endowed with what are
> termed 'perfect' though rather well-endowed physique. And while she does
> recently appear in many different skin colours these days, her features
> don't change which makes her look even more unbelievable. Why do we wish
to
> identify ourselves with something so superficial and unreal?
>
> I find it commendable certainly that designers and architects and others
in
> creative professions such as ours should be acknowledged. But isn't this
> taking things a bit too far?
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Rathna Ramanathan
>
> Research Student
> Department of Typography & Graphic Communication
> University of Reading
>