Barbie® Teams Up With She Should Run to Inspire Girls to be Leaders With New President and Vice President Dolls

Barbie's First All-Female Ticket Encourages Conversation Around Women in Leadership

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Jul 13, 2016, 08:00 ET

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., July 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- To inspire girls to become leaders, Barbie® is introducing new President and Vice President Barbie® dolls, because when a girl plays with Barbie she imagines everything she can become. The dolls represent Barbie's first all-female ticket and are part of the brand's careers line, which aims to expose girls to inspiring careers and empowered roles.

To inspire girls to become leaders, Barbie(R) is introducing new President and Vice President Barbie(R) dolls, because when a girl plays with Barbie she imagines everything she can become. The dolls represent Barbie's first all-female ticket and are part of the careers line, which aims to expose girls to inspiring careers and empowered roles.

Barbie teamed up with She Should Run, an non-partisan organization dedicated to expanding the talent pool of future elected female leaders, to help motivate more women and girls to explore leadership opportunities. The pair are working together to highlight female leaders, offer products that enable leadership storytelling and get parents talking to their girls about being a leader. With just 39 percent of girls saying that they want to be a leader,* President and Vice President Barbie will serve as an inspiration for girls to pursue their dreams and imagine what they can become.

"At She Should Run, we believe that women of all backgrounds should have an equal shot at elected leadership positions and that our country will benefit from having a government with varied perspectives and experiences," says Erin Loos Cutraro, co-founder and CEO of She Should Run. "We are excited about partnering with the Barbie brand given its reach and influence to encourage girls everywhere to unlock their leadership potential."

Although Barbie has run for president in the past, this is the first time that she will be running on an all-female ticket, now uniting with the new Vice President Barbie. This doll set continues to emphasize what Barbie enables— allowing girls to reach their limitless potential by playing out commander and chief. These dolls are available in a variety of hair colors, skin tones and face shapes and are sold in packs of two. They are available today for $24.99 on Shop.Mattel.com and are rolling out to retailers nationwide.

"The President and Vice President dolls continue our efforts to expose girls to inspiring careers that are underrepresented by women," said Lisa McKnight, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Barbie. "We see this doll set as a timely and topical platform to further the conversation around female leadership. We are proud to partner with She Should Run to help elevate its message and show girls that they can be and do anything."

In collaboration with She Should Run, Barbie created a worksheet to encourage girls to explore their leadership potential that can be downloaded at Barbie.com. Barbie also created a new video, which builds on the "You Can Be Anything" campaign, which launched in October of 2015. Earlier this year Barbie expanded its Fashionistas® doll line by introducing even more diversity with three new body types – tall, curvy and petite – seven skin tones, 22 eye colors, 24 hairstyles and countless on-trend fashions and accessories.

For more information and images, please visit www.barbiemedia.com.

About Mattel
The Mattel family of companies is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of toys and family products. Mattel's portfolio of best-selling brands includes Barbie®, the most popular fashion doll ever produced, Hot Wheels®, Monster High®, American Girl®, Thomas & Friends®, Fisher-Price® brands and MEGA® Brands, as well as a wide array of entertainment-inspired toy lines. In 2015, Mattel was named one of the "World's Most Ethical Companies" by Ethisphere Magazine and in 2014 ranked No. 5 on Corporate Responsibility Magazine's "100 Best Corporate Citizens" list. With worldwide headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., Mattel's companies employ approximately 31,000 people in 40 countries and territories and sell products in more than 150 nations. Visit us at www.mattel.com, www.facebook.com/mattel or www.twitter.com/mattel.

About She Should Run
She Should Run is a non-partisan 501(c)3 organization committed to inspiring more women and girls to get into the race for elected leadership. Currently, women hold only 84 out of 435 seats in the House of Representatives, and only 20 out of 100 Senators are women. In our nation's more than 200-year-old history, only four females have been appointed as Supreme Court justices. At the presidential level, only 14 women have run for the highest and most coveted elected position in the land, and none of them have successfully landed the job (yet). Since 2011, She Should Run has worked to dramatically increase women's representation in elected office and eliminate barriers women uniquely face in public service. More information is available at www.sheshouldrun.org

*According to the Girl Scout Research Institute

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SOURCE Mattel