Viral Campaign Helped Barbie Become Computer Engineer
Barbie's 125th and 126th careers as Computer Engineer and News Anchor were introduced at the 2010 Toy Fair in New York City in February. The Wall Street Journalexplains how the computer engineer category won the recent online Barbie career vote. Mattel says they were blown away by the vote. The WSJ says female computer engineers launched a viral campaign to help garner votes for Computer Engineer Barbie.
Girls the world over overwhelmingly cast their ballot for anchorwoman Barbie- "not a surprise, as girls see Katie Couric and a lot of other female anchors," says Stephanie Cota, senior vice president of marketing for the Barbie brand.
But what happened next, she says, "blew us away."
The voting was open to anyone, and nobody could vote more than once. But by the end of the first week, a growing flood of adult votes for computer engineer Barbie trumped the popular choice. Female computer engineers who learned about the election launched a viral campaign on the Internet to get out the vote and ensure Barbie would join their ranks.
Professors, Society of Women Engineers, women's organizations, female computer engineers and blogs like GeekGirlCamp.com help spread the word and encourage people to vote for Computer Engineer Barbie. Computer engineer Barbie arrives in stores this Fall. Take a look:
You can see photos of career Barbie dolls from prior years here.
