COVID-19 Barbies: Mattel Honors Real-Life Heroes

The pandemic has brought the best out in many of us, with so many real-life heroes stepping up. Mattel is one of the brands that has taken the opportunity to honor these people with “COVID-19 Barbies”.

This will no doubt bring financial benefits to the brand – toy sales have soared during the pandemic after all, and these COVID-19 Barbies are only going to help boost the sales. Still, the show of appreciation cannot be minimized.

First up is British scientist Sarah Gilbert, who is a co-developer of the Oxford/Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The 59-year-old is not a stranger to awards, and this is only one of the latest. In an interview, she said, “It’s a very strange concept having a Barbie doll created in my likeness. I hope it will be part of making it more normal for girls to think about careers in science.”

While not everyone grows up with a Barbie, the doll is still one of the most wanted — and influential — in the world. Indeed, with a doll in the likeness of an esteemed scientist who is helping the world fight this awful virus, children ought to be enticed into the sciences even more.

Sarah Gilbert joins five other pandemic heroes in this new line of COVID-19 Barbies. There is Amy O’Sullivan, an emergency room nurse in Brooklyn, New York. She treated the first COVID-19 patient there and got infected, needing intubation. Yet after recovering a few weeks after, she went right back to work helping the sick. We also have Audrey Sue Cruz (frontliner from Nevada), Chika Stacy Oriuwa (psychiatry resident in Toronto), Jaqueline Goes de Jesus (biomedical researcher in Brazil), and Kirby White (GP from Australia).

The dolls are not going to be for sale, but there are other frontliner Barbies available.

Lisa McKnight, senior vice president and global head of Barbie & Dolls at Mattel says, “Barbie recognizes that all frontline workers have made tremendous sacrifices when confronting the pandemic and the challenges it heightened. To shine a light on their efforts, we are sharing their stories and leveraging Barbie’s platform to inspire the next generation to take after these heroes and give back.”