Barbie, Bratz Doll Brawl Goes Online

0

Barbie and her rivals, the Bratz, have taken their long-running fight for playground supremacy off to an important new venue: MySpace-like social-networking sites, the Wall Street Journal reports.


Mattel Inc.’s Barbie has been under attack for six years from MGA Entertainment Inc.’s Bratz line, which dazzled fashion-savvy youngsters with splashy multi-ethnic dolls sporting oversized features and undersized clothes — and made Barbie suddenly look dated. But now Mattel has struck back in cyberspace — and this time, it’s MGA that’s playing catch-up.


On Aug. 1, MGA, of Van Nuys, Calif., is set to release Be-Bratz.com, an online social-networking site aimed at girls ages eight to 12 and based on MGA’s popular doll clique. But the move comes more than three months after Mattel, of El Segundo, Calif., launched a similar site, Barbiegirls.com, which the company says already has around three million users.


On the Be-Bratz site — accessible only after purchase of a special $29.99 Bratz doll that comes with a USB key — users will be able to choose a screen name and their own Bratz “avatar,” an online doll that can be dressed and tailored to their tastes. It will be possible to pick a Bratz character such as Yasmin or Sasha, or design one from scratch. Customizable online “rooms” add further diversion, along with the capability to chat online with other users. Participants will be encouraged to “buy” clothes for their avatars in an online store, using virtual currency that can be earned by playing Bratz-branded games online. An online cinema will show promotional clips from the movie “Bratz,” set for release on Aug. 3.


Read the full Wall Street Journal story

.

No posts to display