Barbie Blunders That Caused A Commotion In The Toy Aisle

In 2010, Mattel released a book titled Barbie: I Can Be a Computer Engineer meant to inspire young girls to dive into typically male-dominated careers. But sadly, they missed the mark - by millions of miles.

In the book, Barbie accidentally spreads a computer virus and needs the assistance of her male coworkers to fix the issue. Hardly the inspirational move parents were hoping for.  

In addition to Barbie not being great at her profession, she was prone to saying things like,

"I'm only creating the design ideas," Barbie says, laughing. "I'll need Steven's and Brian's help to turn it into a real game."

"Hi, guys," says Barbie. "I tried to send you my designs, but I ended up crashing my laptop - and Skipper's, too! I need to get back the lost files and repair both of our laptops."

Mattel later apologized for the sexist book that made the former model, astronaut, server, teacher, and dancer appear incompetent. 

In 1965, "Slumber Party Barbie" was released for little girls to play being a teenager. She came with pink pajamas and a robe, a scale, and a book, which stated "How to Lose Weight" and "Don't Eat." This Barbie was also underweight, as the scale indicated the 5'9" woman was only 110 pounds.

Nowadays, Pajama Barbie has ditched the body dysmorphia, turning in her scale and book for facial cream and a mug of hot cocoa. 

In 1997, Mattel released "Share-a-Smile Becky," a Barbie companion who was in a wheelchair. Though well-intentioned, the doll created controversy when it was pointed out the Barbie Dreamhouse was not wheelchair accessible. In fact, she couldn't fit through the door. 

In addition to being on the outside looking in, she also had an issue with her hair getting caught in her wheelchair.

As part of a partnership with Nabisco, Mattel releases food-oriented Barbies to help their food-based friends promote their products to their audience. So, when Mattel and Nabisco released an African American Barbie named "Oreo Barbie" and her salty counterpart, "Cracker Barbie," it's safe to say the companies were probably unaware of the fact both were derogatory terms.

But their audience sure did notice. The dolls were quickly pulled from the market.

"Math class is tough."

Much to the chagrin of many parents, this talking doll spouted sayings that were far from inspirational. Thanks to the uproar, the doll was "fixed," no long talking about her difficulties in geometry.