photo cred: Facebook (Beautiful and Bald Barbie)

The toy-maker Mattel has officially announced it will be making a hairless Barbie doll.

Jane Bingham and Beckie Sypin, creators of the Beautiful and Bald Barbie Facebook page, have created a campaign that has garnered nationwide attention.

Bingham states:

“(We want girls to know) they’re not dependent on their hair for their self-worth and their beauty. Women and children, it’s looked down upon that you would go out without your hair. People would automatically assume that you’re sick and you should stay at home in bed.”

After 150,000 likes of the Facebook page in less than four months, Mattel heard the message loud and clear. However, instead of being sold in stores, the new hairless Barbie dolls will be distributed exclusively to hospitals throughout the U.S and Canada treating children diagnosed with cancer.

On their Facebook page, Mattel announced:

“Through a thoughtful approach, we made the decision not to sell these dolls at retail stores, but rather get the dolls directly into the hands of children who can most benefit from the unique play experience.”

A curious decision… do you think the dolls also be sold in stores in order to make it available to anyone?

It is also interesting to see the big role Facebook played in Mattel’s decision. What does this say about the increasing power of social media?