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Toymaker Mattel on Tuesday announced 15 new Ken
dolls, featuring seven skin tones, nine hairstyles and three
body styles including a more muscular "broad" physique.
The move follows the introduction in 2016 of three new bodies -
petite, tall and curvy - for Barbie that California-based Mattel
said reflected a changing world.
Ken, Barbie's faithful boyfriend of 56 years, is now catching
up.
"We are redefining what a Barbie or Ken doll looks like to this
generation,” Lisa McKnight, senior vice president and general
manager for Barbie, said in a statement.
She said the variety of Ken dolls would allow girls to "further
personalize the role they want him to play in Barbie’s world."
Ken was invented in 1961 as Barbie's buff, blue-eyed friend and
has undergone many iterations including the first
African-American Ken in 1981 and Earring Magic Ken in 1993,
which became a big seller among gay men.
In 2004, his romance with Barbie was deemed over by Mattel, but
the toymaker officially reunited them on Valentine's Day in
2011.
The launch of the new Ken range follows declining sales of
Barbie dolls around the world as girls increasingly turn to
other dolls and electronic toys.
Mattel in April reported that Barbie sales declined 13 percent
in the first quarter of 2017 when it also reported a much bigger
than expected quarterly loss and cut its full-year sales growth
forecast.
All 15 Ken dolls will be in toy stores later this year.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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