Mattel celebrates 50 years with Barbie

Despite the global economic slowdown, Mattel will celebrate toy brand Barbie's 50th anniversary in the biggest worldwide celebration of the brand ever - including a dream house full of marquee partners in fashion, beauty, publishing, home design, arts and entertainment, even transportation. 

Girls of all ages will be able to celebrate with major events and fashion shows in all major capitals, as well as experience the brand through exciting new initiatives at retail, online and through an exciting collection of celebratory, must-have products.

''2009 represents a new chapter in the Barbie brand's history - one which will be our most exciting ever to add to the Barbie legacy.  We are approaching the brand as a fashion brand, managing it with a distinct Barbie style and voice - from advertising to product to the web.  Everything we do will be unapologetically all-girl, playful and distinctly 'Barbie.'' - Richard Dickson, general manager and senior vice president, Barbie, Mattel Toys.

Launched in 1959 by Mattel Toys, Barbie has taken the world by storm with her chiseled-to-perfection looks and her incredible sense of fashion.

Barbie has since become not just a doll but a friend to young girls across the globe, a fashionista, a dance diva, a princess and a career woman: in fact it can truly be said that everything that a girl aspires to be, has come true in the form of Barbie!

This is in line with the core ideology behind the creation of the doll, as conceived by Ruth Handler the creator of Barbie doll, ''Barbie has always represented that a woman has choices.  Even in her early years, Barbie did not have to settle for only being Ken's girlfriend or an inveterate shopper.  She had the clothes, for example, to launch a career as a nurse, a stewardess, a nightclub singer.

Dickson says, "I believe the choices Barbie represents helped the doll catch on initially, not just with daughters - who would one day make up the first major wave of women in management and professionals - but also with mothers.''

This core thought is highlighted in the brand statement even today, keeping here relevant for the new generation - Barbie is the World's only brand that allows girls to imagine themselves as a mermaid to a movie star, a fairy to a fashionista, and a princess to a president.

"Our brand serves a purpose to girls as they try on different personalities, careers, and explore the world and all of its possibilities without ever leaving home," Dickson adds.

Mattel is a global leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of toys and family products. Apart from Barbie, the Mattel portfoliom includes best-selling brands Hot Wheels, Matchbox, American Girl, Radica and Tyco R/C, as well as Fisher-Price brands, including Little People, Power Wheels and a wide array of entertainment-inspired toy lines.