Contribution to Book
Commodifying Culture: Mattel’s and Disney’s Marketing Approaches to “Latinx” Toys and Media
The Marketing of Children’s Toys Critical Perspectives on Children’s Consumer Culture
(2021)
Abstract
The 2010s saw a rise in media and artifacts for children that featured elements from Latinx culture. This trend was not new. In 1988, for instance, Mattel introduced Teresa, Barbie’s new best friend who was mostly read as Latina. Over the decades, it had also introduced dolls from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Peru, Chile, and Brazil as part of the Dolls of the World line. Yet, from 2014 to the present, movies, toys, and television programming for children increasingly began to feature Latinx characters and culture. This chapter examines these broader trends while paying special attention to Mattel and Disney, two of the biggest producers of toys and media for children, including recent products such as Disney’s Elena of Avalor (2016–2020) and Coco (2017) and Mattel’s Frida Kahlo (2018) and Día de Muertos (2019 and 2020) Barbie dolls. This chapter highlights how the companies’ early efforts in marketing Latinx culture relied on strategic ambiguity, but eventually engaged in assertive “Latinx” product labeling.
Keywords
- Latinx culture,
- marketing,
- Disney,
- Mattel,
- toys
Disciplines
Publication Date
Spring April 1, 2021
Editor
Rebecca C. Hains and Nancy A. Jennings
Publisher
Palgrave
Citation Information
Emily Aguilló-Pérez. "Commodifying Culture: Mattel’s and Disney’s Marketing Approaches to “Latinx” Toys and Media" The Marketing of Children’s Toys Critical Perspectives on Children’s Consumer Culture (2021) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/emily-aguilo-perez2/2/