A new ad campaign from Mattel focuses on dads and daughters spending time together while playing with Barbie dolls.
On Sunday, the company posted a video on its Barbie YouTube channel that shows five dads playing with Barbie dolls with their daughters. As the fathers make the dolls move and speak during playtime, their kids dream big and make their Barbies act as astronauts, firefighters, doctors and more.
Kristina Duncan, who is the vice president of global marketing communications at Barbie, told AdWeek that the new spot features actual dads and their daughters. The company, which has more videos showing the father-daughter duos playing together on YouTube, also offered an unscripted view of the families playing.
“These play moments were completely unscripted, so throughout the campaign you will see imaginations run wild, genuinely funny moments, and of course the sweet tender connections between these dads and their daughters,” she said.
The ad emphasized these important connections with a simple quote from one of the fathers about his daughter and her ambition.
“I think she can be anything she wants to be or all of them.”
While the idea that dolls aren’t reserved for girls certainly isn’t new, Barbie continues to remind its customers of its mission to be more inclusive. In 2015, the company received praise for its ad that starred a boy describing his Barbie doll as being “so fierce.”
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