One of the more obscure iterations of Barbie seen in the movie is that of Video Girl Barbie. Released in 2010, the original toy was a real working video camera that was able to record up to 30 minutes of film and even upload to a computer. As shown with the live-action character, Video Girl Barbie came with a large hole in her upper body that featured the camera lens but was disguised as a fashionable pendant. The doll was discontinued for a unique reason: the FBI saw the doll’s hidden camera as a potential threat to children, saying that it could have been used for child pornography. Though no such incidents were ever reported, Mattel pulled Video Barbie from shelves in 2012. (from this link)
The doll was launched the same year as Instagram (link). The rise in social media most likely had a lot to do with the doll's controversy and cancellation. Had it been released in the 1990s or the early 2000s, would it have caused the same controversy? Though perhaps the FBI might have worried over porn at that time as well.
5 comments:
Creepy on so many levels.
That is pretty strange. I never heard of this video Barbie. Probably though I would have liked it if I was a kid. :)
That was about the time when those cheaper easy video cameras came out. I had one. So, I can see why they'd make a Barbie version. I wouldn't have considered the possibility of porn for them being discontinued, but then again, my mind doesn't work like that. Sadly, some people's do.
That video Barbie is kind of unusual, and I think kind of creepy. I'm glad they pulled it, not because of child porn, but because the camera is hidden within the doll. If they gave her a camera so it would be obvious, that would be a different story in my mind.
I've never heard of this either. My daughter only had the regular Barbie for which I must have sewed 20+ outfits.
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