Barbie's Battles & the Darker Side of Mattel

Barbie the Movie has broken all the blockbuster records. I saw the movie - mixing business and pleasure. My book You Don’t Own Me: The Legal Battles That Revealed Barbie's Dark Side (Norton) tells the story of Mattel's decades long dominance in the doll industry. The Barbie Movie produced by Mattel allows limited self-poking fun at the brand while concealing this darker side of the brand and the questionable marketing and corporate ethics that continue to lead to its success. The story of Mattel using litigation - primarily IP and employment contract claims - as a sledgehammer is both specific and universal. The toy industry like m many other industries has become increasingly concentrated, with the dominant corporations demanding boilerplate contracts from their employees preventing post-employment mobility, and in turn new entry, innovation and new products.

More on all this in You Don't Own Me and in an article I will post next week. Meanwhile, as part of my research, I dressed up as Barbie for the movie outing with my girlfriends. Also spoke about the darker side on the Unladylike podcast here. and a Dahlia Lithwick Slate Amicus podcast about the book well before the movie here. #Lawprofessorsjustwanttohavedfun #ImaBarbieGirl