After a cancer patient’s request for a “bald and beautiful” Barbie, Mattel agreed to put one on shelves next year.
Jane Bingham, 42, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma five years ago, Detroit Free Press reports. She started a Facebook page with a friend who has a 12-year-old daughter also diagnosed with cancer to urge Barbie-maker Mattel to create a bald doll.
The page is called “Beautiful and Bald Barbie! Let’s see if we can get it made.” It has over 158,000 likes and is a meeting ground for people who want to commemorate their loved ones who are living with or have died of cancer.
On February 10, the site announced that makers of Moxie and Bratz dolls, MGA, will be releasing a line of bald dolls called “True Hope.”
Following MGA’s decision, Mattel flew Bingham out to California to discuss plans for the bald Barbie line.
Mattel spokesman Alan Hilowitz said the new doll will “provide girls with a traditional fashion play experience.”
The forthcoming Barbie does not have a name or a prototype yet, but will be distributed in the United States and Canada by the Children’s Hospital Association and CureSearch for Children’s Cancer to children with cancer.
Bingham said that it was a “partial victory” and hopes that Mattel keeps the promise they made to her during her visit.