You Won’t Find This at Toys-R-Us
bella | Aug 30, 2006 | Comments 26
Ladies, meet Oreo Fun Barbie. To quote Adam Sandler in that hilarious Saturday Night Live sketch – “Who were the ad wizards that came up with this one?” Learn more in Wikipedia’s exhaustive Barbie entry.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Related posts:
- I Ain’t Saying She’s a Gold Digger… But this Barbie ain’t messing with no broke Ken dolls....
- The Fiercest Barbie You’ve Seen Thus Far I’ve thrown a little shade at Barbara Millicent Roberts —...
- Afrobella Loves Stila Loves Barbie! I caught a glimpse of the new limited edition Stila...
- Goodnight, George Carlin Wow. 2008 is shaping up to be a terrible year...
- No Surprises Here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17fEy0q6yqc The recent remake of the infamous 1950′s “Doll Test”...
Filed Under: Famous Faces
I gotta say first that i’m glad i stumbled on to your site….I’s a wonderful read and i will def. be a frequent visitor. About today’s Blog entry, i had never even heard of Oreo Barbie..but i damn sure wouldn’t have bought it either.
i’m not sure what’s wrong with the oreo barbie…but i know something is wrong, dammit
i think i am just slow today.
I am so grateful I found this site!!!! Plus, I gotta support my 305 folks, so you are Family gurl! As far as Oreo Barbie- I would most definitely buy her cuz we the same complexion! However they could’ve been more subtle with the title… c’mon “oreo”?!?! That’s Damn near racist! What next “Saltine’s” Barbie??
Random thought: Remember the Kenya Dolls that came in different shades of skin color?!?! They should bring that back!
Need oxygen…cannot breeve!!! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!
Believe it or not, I COLLECT Black Barbies and I have never seen this one!! I SOOO have to find her now! I’ll let you know if I do.
The first of Barbie’s black friends, “Colored Francie,” debuted in 1967, but racial tensions quickly caused this doll to be discontinued. The first African-American Barbie, “Black Barbie,” appeared thirteen years later.
“Colored Francie” ain’t that about a XXXXX!!!!
Julia please let me know if you have this one and please post a pic, I need to see her….
Jersey…I don’t have her!!! She’s a hard one to find! The oldest one I have is a Beverly Johnson doll…although she is not Barbie. My oldest Barbie is actually the first African Barbie Mattel created for their Barbies of The World Collection. That’s when I started.
I wish I knew the Kenya dolls. I’ve never seen them! When I was little, I had like seven white Barbies and one black Barbie. But my black Barbie wasn’t even legit, she was from Venezuela and I want to say her name was Rosita. I remember giving her a terrible haircut when I was maybe eight years old, and never wanting to play with her after that. Ha!
In Mattel’s defense, they also made a white Oreo Fun Barbie, you can find more information here.
Thanks to all of you for reading and posting! I saw that doll and I just HAD to say something, even if I’m coming several years too late.
Update: I went over to EBAY to check out the selling price for Oreo Barbie. The starting bid is $19.99. I will bid on her and let you guys know if I win her. She is a must-have for my collection now!
Julia! I love that you’re BUYING the doll. Ha! I also discovered that there’s Jello Fun Barbie. Apparently Mattel was trying to create a playtime/after school snack dynamic which is so sad and laughable for so many reasons. The food-related issues there are worth a much longer examination than I have energy to do!
i actually did have a kenya doll! my mom bought one in my shade and everything! lol @ the hair care products that came with it!
[...] But… today I saw something horrible, and the saddest part is that I’m not really surprised. The associated Wikipedia entry explains how Mattel just had no idea (in 1997!) that manufacturing a black doll and calling her “Oreo Barbie” might be a problem: Unfortunately for Mattel, its product developers were unaware that in the African American community, Oreo has another meaning. It is a derogatory term for a person perceived to be, like the chocolate sandwich cookie, black on the outside and white on the inside—someone with an ambivalent racial identity, who does not identify with African American culture, or who is perceived as a “race traitor” or a self-loathing black person. [...]
[...] What I’m saying is, I wouldn’t buy her for my kids. But at $38.99, maybe she isn’t exactly a “playing” Barbie. She’s more of a collectible. (And a great addition to your “questionable Mattel” doll collection, along with Earring Magic Ken, and Oreo Fun Barbie, who I mentioned earlier.) [...]
Being unaware of the term “Oreo” and its racial reference isn’t something that I knew about myself and I am African-American. It was a mistake that was corrected by the company when they pulled the doll. Actually, I have both the white and black Oreo dolls in their boxes and that’s where they’ll stay until I auction them in about 15-20 years.
hi, i come from Kenya (EastAfrica) and I have never seen those Kenya dolls you are all talking about! I’ve checked in all the major toy stores in Nairobi and there are none, imagine that, an African city without African dolls!
I bought this Barbie at a Duane Reade on Atlantic Ave. in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn in 2002. Sadly I no longer have it. I think I paid $12 for it.
The best thing about the oreo doll is the fun you can have with it now in retrospect. Especially when you pair it with a white ken doll…nothing funnier!
Well, Mattel origianlly made the doll in both skin colours to please everyone. (I am not being racist. This was standard procedure. Please do not take that the wrong way as I am not trying to offend ANYBODY.) Now I admit the marketing was bad on this one…but if you can see where Mattel was originally coming from and trying to do…These dolls are highly sought after..
okay so I have free time and I am just reading this 2 years later ( sad but true)
Kenya wasn’t a africa doll just for afro American s ( as it became popular to name your child something ” African”
I remember that “Kenya’s hair looks great magic lotion makes it straight making Kenya look pretty makes me feel pretty too.”
she came with pretty curls until yyou put magic lotion on it and it was straight…. forever….. they could have warned me, mais non! I was so upset. I had the doll but not the one in my color they ran out my doll was a caremel color.
I also had no idea that oreo was not a widley used term. the things you learn when you read.
Soo… I am too am just stumbling across this. I was looking for something to send my cousins and I thought about the Kenya and Baby Kiana dolls that we got as children in our skin shades (we are buttermilk, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate). I wish I could locate my dolls today, sigh…
[...] didn’t fit in the elevator of the Barbie Mansion … oh, and the final insult was Oreo Fun Barbie® whose black counterpart didn’t set well with the African American community given the racial [...]
I just stumbled on this site, and I have one of these dolls – new in box, since 1997, when I bought it at the checkout counter at my local grocery store. How Mattel couldn’t have know the controversy they would create with a black version of this doll is beyond me! I knew it the second I saw it, and bought it to collect. That’s why it’s still in the box! If anyone seriously wants it, let me know. It truly is a collector’s item. Mattel recalled all units once they figured out their idiocy! Very few left in the world, especially still in the box, never opened. Serious inquiries only though…
I also have this doll. I am an African-American and I bought it because I thought it was cute. The “oreo” concept escaped me when I purchased it. I bought three dolls. One for my daughter, one for my niece and one for myself. I still have mine in the box. I will not part with her, unless there is someone out there who seriously would like to purchase it from me.
Get over it. It is not like it was called “Nigger Barbie”
Yea like number 23 said. I mean come on it was made in both black and white version. So white people could be pissed off because they’re calling them Oreo’s too. Right? So when did it become bad to call anyone an Oreo?
I had one of these dolls until my house burned. They are getting harder to find.
Hey! I am the inventor of Kenya, the doll from TYCO and UNEEDA. Tell me why you love her!