Sinclair
10-27-2005, 09:30 PM
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20051027/BARBIE27/TPFront/TopStories
"DAMASCUS-Barbie, the busty plastic doll with the outfit for every mood, has seen and done a lot in her 46 years: She's been a rock star, an astronaut and a candidate for president of the United States. But one thing the blond bombshell could never claim to represent was Muslim values.
Into that breach now has stepped Fulla, a doll built on roughly the same chassis as Barbie but with her vinyl feet more firmly grounded in the cultural realities of the Arab world.
With black hair, auburn eyes and a wide selection of head scarves, she's Mecca to Barbie's Malibu. She even comes with her own prayer rug.
The brainchild of Syrian entrepreneur Manar Tarabichi, Fulla has become a marketing phenomenon from Morocco to Iraq since being launched two years ago, taking over the main display areas in toy stores and sidelining the ageless U.S. idol. Fulla's an especially big hit in Saudi Arabia, where Barbie was banned several years ago by a government that disapproved of her "revealing clothes and shameful postures."
The two dolls would likely have a hard time understanding each other. Barbie, of course, is a notorious party girl who likes to prance around in a bikini and spend a lot of her time in the company of her boy-toy Ken. Fulla, who prefers the full head-to-toe abaya, has no male friends, although her creators are planning to add a protective brother some time in the next year."
Really, no comment. This is more "slice of life" than anything else.
"DAMASCUS-Barbie, the busty plastic doll with the outfit for every mood, has seen and done a lot in her 46 years: She's been a rock star, an astronaut and a candidate for president of the United States. But one thing the blond bombshell could never claim to represent was Muslim values.
Into that breach now has stepped Fulla, a doll built on roughly the same chassis as Barbie but with her vinyl feet more firmly grounded in the cultural realities of the Arab world.
With black hair, auburn eyes and a wide selection of head scarves, she's Mecca to Barbie's Malibu. She even comes with her own prayer rug.
The brainchild of Syrian entrepreneur Manar Tarabichi, Fulla has become a marketing phenomenon from Morocco to Iraq since being launched two years ago, taking over the main display areas in toy stores and sidelining the ageless U.S. idol. Fulla's an especially big hit in Saudi Arabia, where Barbie was banned several years ago by a government that disapproved of her "revealing clothes and shameful postures."
The two dolls would likely have a hard time understanding each other. Barbie, of course, is a notorious party girl who likes to prance around in a bikini and spend a lot of her time in the company of her boy-toy Ken. Fulla, who prefers the full head-to-toe abaya, has no male friends, although her creators are planning to add a protective brother some time in the next year."
Really, no comment. This is more "slice of life" than anything else.