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The <em>Mad Men</em> Get Barbie Treatment
By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 10, 2010
Modified Mar 10, 2010
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 10, 2010
Modified Mar 10, 2010
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When Mad Men comes back on the air in July, you'll be able to buy your own Barbie versions of Joan Holloway, Don Draper, Betty Draper and Roger Sterling (somehow Peggy got left out of the plastic party—though you can see her in this alt version).
Mattel is marketing the dolls for adults through their Barbie Fashion Model Collection. While they certainly have an adult pricetag of $74.95 each, according to the NY Times they won't come with grown-up accessories like martinis and cigarettes. But the paper points out that while you may be able to take the cocktail shaker out of Don Draper's hands, you can't stop him from bringing his cheating ways into Barbie's playhouse. As for his wife, one television and pop culture professor noted that Betty is “the wife who lives in her dream house whose soul is eaten away.” Cheery! Consider her The Bell Jar Barbie that never got made.
There will be around 10,000 dolls made for each of the four characters, to be sold at some specialty shops as well as AMCtv.com and BarbieCollector.com. And might we see Don Draper pitching ad copy for the now iconic doll in the 4th season? Barbie was first introduced to the world on March 9th, 1959—so it's entirely possible.
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barbie
dolls
mad men
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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