Rugby star Ilona Maher is a two-time Olympian, a “Dancing With the Stars” alum, a social media favourite and now a Barbie doll.
Mattel introduced Monday that it had assembled a workforce of 4 worldwide rugby athletes to assist encourage women to embrace their confidence and keep in sports activities. The brand new “Crew Barbie” marketing campaign is to have a good time Worldwide Day of the Woman, which is Oct. 11.
“All of us doubt ourselves at instances, myself included,” Maher mentioned in a press release. “If sharing my story can encourage different younger women to imagine in themselves the way in which I’ve, then I’ll have actually made an impression. Being a part of Crew Barbie is about displaying women that confidence isn’t one thing to draw back from, however one thing to personal.”
Additionally a part of Crew Barbie are Ellie Kildunne from the U.Okay., New Zealand’s Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Nassira Konde from France.
A breakout star on the 2024 Paris Olympics even earlier than the rugby sevens workforce’s historic bronze medal, Maher turned recognized for her social media movies that provided a humorous glimpse into the day-to-day lifetime of an Olympic athlete. She has additionally used her platform to empower ladies, champion physique positivity and assist elevate the profile of rugby within the U.S.
The Barbie doll variations of worldwide rugby stars Ellie Kildunne, left, Ilona Maher, Nassira Konde and Portia Woodman-Wickliffe.
(Mattel)
“As ladies, loads of instances our physique has been this object to be checked out and to be objectified, and I hate that there’s women on the market that really feel like they don’t have a function for his or her physique, and they also wish to change it always,” Maher informed The Instances final yr. “To get into sports activities and a sport like rugby, a sport like canoe, and monitor and subject provides your physique a function, reveals what it could possibly do and what it’s able to. It’s not simply one thing that’s for others to guage.”
As a part of its marketing campaign, Mattel carried out a examine to attempt to higher perceive why women are likely to cease taking part in sports activities. The analysis discovered that solely 53% of ladies ages 6 to 14 really feel assured whereas enjoying sports activities and that 1 in 3 women stops enjoying sports activities by age 14 “primarily as a result of physique confidence issues, self-doubt, and an absence of seen feminine function fashions.”
“At Barbie … [w]e’re dedicated to breaking down the obstacles — from gender stereotypes to self-doubt — that maintain women again from realizing their limitless potential,” Krista Berger, the senior vice chairman of Barbie, mentioned in a information launch for the brand new marketing campaign. “By showcasing the tales of unimaginable function fashions whose confidence has fueled groundbreaking success, we’re displaying women that the way forward for sports activities — or wherever their ardour takes them — is theirs to say, with Crew Barbie cheering them on.”
The Crew Barbie marketing campaign shouldn’t be the primary time the corporate has put the highlight on athletes. Final yr, Barbie teamed up with WNBA icon Sue Chook as a part of its sixty fifth anniversary celebration. Barbie has additionally teamed with the Chicago Sky for Barbie-themed recreation days within the final two WNBA seasons.
Different feminine athletes Barbie highlighted final yr included tennis participant Venus Williams, soccer stars Christine Sinclair and Mary Fowler, boxer Estelle Mossely, gymnasts Alexa Moreno and Rebeca Andrade, paratriathlete Susana Rodriguez, swimmer Federica Pellegrini and monitor and subject sprinter Ewa Swoboda.
