Barbie and Ken Twitter accounts cause headaches for Mattel
In the wake of criticism over its toy packaging, social media accounts using Mattel’s characters, but not owned by the company, are drawing attention.
It can be tough out there in the first-come, first-serve world of social media. Just ask Mattel.
The Los Angeles Times reports that a protracted battle between the toymaker and environmental organization Greenpeace moved to Facebook and Twitter this week. It started Tuesday, with Greenpeace activists posting messages on Mattel’s Barbie Facebook fan page critical of the company allegedly using packaging made out of materials gathered from Indonesian rainforests.
Mattel closed comments on the page and scrubbed any mention of rainforests. But by Wednesday, the @Barbie Twitter account, a parody account not owned by Mattel or Greenpeace, had picked up the banner, tweeting about deforestation to its followers.
“I’m now single. Accepting boyfriend applications on one condition: you must hate trees!#Barbie #Deforestation,” read one of more than a dozen tweets on the topic. The account had about 1,400 followers Wednesday. That number was up to nearly 1,700 by Thursday afternoon.
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