I meant to blog about this last week when I first received the following notice from Dads and Daughters.
This fall, Hasbro plans to start marketing—to girls as young as six—a line of dolls based on The Pussycat Dolls, a six-woman music group that performs highly eroticized dance routines and songs, and helped launch a sexual cabaret show in Los Angeles.
Act now to urge Hasbro President and CEO Alfred J. Verrecchia to put his own granddaughter’s face in the picture and reverse the company’s decision to market these dolls. Join Dads & Daughters and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood to preempt an irresponsible effort to create and promote unhealthy, hyper-sexualized toys for elementary school age girls.
However, before I had a chance to blog about this, Hasbro had already received enough mail to back down from their decision. A few minutes ago, DADS issued the following email followup.
After a grassroots letter-writing initiative from Dads & Daughters and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood , Hasbro, Inc. announced today that it will halt plans to market—to girls as young as six—a line of dolls based on The Pussycat Dolls, a six-woman music group that performs highly eroticized dance routines and songs.
The company issued the following statement:
“Hasbro and Interscope have jointly agreed that Hasbro will not move forward with the line of dolls based on the recording group, The Pussycat Dolls. Interscope’s current creative direction and images for the recording group are focused on a much older target than we had anticipated at the time of our original discussions, thereby making a doll line inappropriate for Hasbro.†(Note: Interscope is the record label that created and manages the Pussycat Dolls group.)
DADs President Joe Kelly called Hasbro’s decision a victory for families and responsible corporate practice. “We asked Hasbro executives to imagine encouraging their own six-year-old daughters and granddaughters to engage in developmentally unhealthy behavior. It appears they did that, and then made the right decision for their families, our families, and the company.â€
DADs encourages people who care about children to mail or fax letters of thanks to Hasbro President and CEO Alfred J. Verrecchia at 1027 Newport Avenue, Pawtucket, RI, 02862-1059 or fax 401-727-5544.
I’m a big fan of the work of Dads and Daughters, a non-profit in the US that is dedicated to helping Dads of girls actively engage in their daughter’s lives, and fight against cultural messages that devalue girls and women. if you are a DAD, I encourage you to check them out.
Nice work, DADS!
