Mattel has announced the breakup of Barbie and Ken after 43 years of very public courtship, which for plastic people isn't all that long. Apparently Ken wouldn't commit:
- The couple's "business manager," Russell Arons, vice president of marketing at Mattel, said that Barbie and Ken "feel it's time to spend some quality time — apart."
"Like other celebrity couples, their Hollywood romance has come to an end," said Arons, who quickly added that the duo "will remain friends."
Arons denied that there was any truth to rumors that the breakup was linked to the Cali (as in California) Girl Barbie, arriving in stores now. To better reflect her single status, Cali Barbie will wear board shorts and a bikini top, metal hoop earrings, and have a deeper tan.
....Barbie — the most popular fashion doll in the world, according to toy maker Mattel — met Ken on the set of a TV commercial in 1961, and they have been inseparable ever since.
Arons hinted Wednesday that the separation may be partially due to Ken's reluctance to getting married. All those bridal Barbie dolls in toy chests around the globe are really just examples of Barbie's wishful thinking, she explained. [CNN]
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - HW Saxton Jr.
I've heard rumors,unsubstantiated rumors
that Glenn Danzig has one of the world's
largest Barbie Doll collections......
2 - Christopher
Guess there were some marketing people at Mattel who had nothing to do one day, huh?
3 - Dwaine AKA Scooter AKA D.J.
A guy blogging on Barbies.
What a fine society this is.
4 - Lauren
i cant believe barbie has left ken for sum australian doll called blaine!! :( i was devastated when i heard the news :( *cries*
5 - natalie
i think that barbie sux & should feel horrible 4 ditching her bf & ken!!! for summer & blaine!!! wat r we teaching our kids these days?? that breaking up is a good thing!!! that is soo gay!!! i mean if barbie & ken cant make it then who in this world can!!! i HATE!!! this gay thing that "barbie" or should i say mattel did!!! if they think that it will sell more dolls then they r full of poop!!! barbie & ken r part of my childhood!! infact they r a part of millions of childrens childhoods & to ruin those great memories is sick & WRONG!!
6 - Mac Diva
Actually, the original Barbie and Ken (children of the woman who invented the dolls) were brother and sister. Stop that! How dare you think the 'I' word?
7 - Eric Olsen
I am pleased that people still care about Barbie's love life; for a moment there I thought people were turning their attention to real life.
8 - marisam
Barbie is the coolest thing in the world! she's my best friend and i'm very sad for her breackup with ken! we're planning a marrige to to get them back together!Rock on barbie!!!
9 - Mark Saleski
anybody remember the show "Fridays"?
when i hear of ken & barbie all i can think of is the skit that michael richards (kramer) used to do as the kid playing j.i. joe on the sandpile.
there was one where his playmate was melanie chartoff...with her barbie doll.
the line was "c'mon barbie, you know what i want!"
it got ugly after that.
10 - JR
anybody remember the show "Fridays"?
Oh hell yeah! That was where I first saw King Crimson with Adrian Belew, probably the most mind-blowing musical performance I've ever seen on TV. Except maybe for Slaughter on Arsenio Hall... hmmm no, King Crimson was more amazing.
Anyway, Battle Boy. Yeah, he was cool, what with that mushroom cloud T-shirt and all. Remember the hispanic DJ who used to do that whole Spanish routine with the English words mixed in? He'd introduce "la musica de los Blue Oyster Cult" and then it would be mariachi music.
I don't know, for my money Fridays was way better than Saturday Night Live.
11 - Joe
I remember Fridays, barely, they got off to a slow start, but I remember, too, that they had really good musical guests, they were more West Coast and got alot of the New Wave bands early on. I also remember the Spanish DJ throwing a vibrator up on the turntable but I can't remember what he said...
12 - barbie is fucked up!
HEY YALL U KNOW WHAT?? WHY DA FUCK DO WE EVEN HAVE BARBIES? DERZ NO POINT OF BUYIN EM COZ THEY TEACHIN KIDZ SHIT LIKE DRESSING LIKE WHORES N HOES! BARBIE SUCKS AND SO DOES THE REST OF EM KEN N SHIT I DUN EVEN KNOW THEY'RE FUCKIN NAMES. AND I DONT CARE IF I OFFENDED PPLZ COZ DAS DA FUCKED UP TRUTH. MAN PPL GET A LIFE, SNAP BACK TO REALITY. ITS JUST PLASTIC N IT DUN MATTA IT WONT HELP U SURVIVE THE REAL WORLD. I DUN THINK DAT BARBIE SHOULDVE BEEN INVENTED. FUCKED UP TOYS CAN RUIN YOUNG CHILDRENS LIVES. LUCKILY MY PARENTS DIDNT GET ME NO BARBIE N IM HAPPY.
-PuNkRoCkA_fO_lYfE!
13 - bekka
Ok let me see if i have this correct...Barbie was born in 1959 and met Ken in 1961...that means barbie was 2 years old when ken was born..hm they started dating when Barbie was 2 and just recently broke up? My really big question? How old was Barbie when she was born? ;-) I would never let my 2 yr old daughter..id at least make her wait till she was 5!
14 - random
bekka, your a dickhead
15 - fungus pot
696966969696969
tHATS WHAT bARBIE STANDS FOR A GOOD 69.
16 - CHRIS DA CRAPPER
DIS IS CRAP, WHAT 'BOUT ALL T' KIDS WHO ARE ANOREXIC 'CAUSE OF A STINKIN' DOLL LIKE BARBIE, I HAVE VISITED SITES WHERE PEOPLE HAVE DIED BECAUSE THEY TRIED TO BE LIKE BARBIE.
I WOULD LIKE IT BETTER IF MATTEL PRODUCED A DOLL OF ADOLF HITLER OR AL CAPONE!
17 - shawtyy
wtf r use on about we know barbies a piece of shit who gives a fuck
if ppl like it let em dnt go braggin on the web about it u dumb shits
i think barbie is crap 2 but wat the hell!!!
18 - BarbiePrincess101
I LUV BARBIE!!!
i'm not the dickhead who thinks i wanna be her, i know i am so much better than that.
Not my problem IF PPLZ wanna look a certain stereotypical fuckin' princess, GET OVER IT!!!!!
LEAVE POOR BARBIE ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
19 - Marcia L. Neil
Barbie and Ken were lifeguards, not born in the 1950s.
20 - ninum
ummmmmmm i dont care about these dum anaroxic ppl they have a brain why do they do it it is not barbies fault ok so i just wanna say i love you BARBIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!
21 - emily
yerr umm i agree wiff chris da crapper!!
coz ov this stupid fucked up bitch whore called barbiee ppl have gone anorexic 2 look like this crack whore !!! wat a whaste ov money like wtf yer n true tht its not barbies fault tht ppl decided 2 b dumb enough 2 go anorexic but if barbie wasnt made mayb they wouldve not ov gone anorexic!! thts just my opinion anywayy
[Deleted]
22 - slobada
barbie and ken make me cry they're absouloutly faboulous
23 - mimi
Who are you people? Dolls do not cause ANOREXIC. Fashion models do. People don't die because of a doll. Dolls do not cause poor self image people do. Get real & quit blaming a doll for the worlds problems that have been here way before BARBIE.
24 - Gina
OH MY GOSH!! When i heard that barbie and ken split, i got so sad!! they should have been together forever!!
25 - Riley
Wow, this is all pretty intense. You are all fighting about a plastic doll, an inanimate object. And y'know, it's not the doll's fault, it's that stupid woman's fault, (the mother who invented the dolls) for making them so damn unrealistic. So I think this should just shut everyone up. People are influenced by pop-culture, which is why it's called pop - ie - popular culture, it's popular and people want to be popular. I don't suffer from the syndrome, but many do. Just get off your high horse, for heavens sake.