Playground Battles
Two Different Dolls Hit the Music-Fashion Market, but Only One May Be Tween-Friendly

Posted by Mike Tunnicliffe in Ad Age Songs For Soap on 03.20.08 @ 10:50 AM

The tween market isn't just a Miley Ray Cyrus cupcake party full of feather boas and sparkly jeans. Sometimes things can get ugly.

Just ask the Pussycat Dolls, who launched their new range of lingerie at this year's LA Fashion week. The line was designed by the Dolls' founder Robin Antin, who described it as "feminine and edgy, just like the Pussycat Dolls." It's a far cry from where the act were heading a while ago, when they tried to introduce a range of dolls that were eventually nixed by Hasbro following pressure from third-party groups, including the organization Dads and Daughters.

Let's hope that Dads & Daughters take a better view of the other announcement last week that Jakks Pacific has signed a worldwide licensing agreement through CAA to develop and market a line of apparel, toys, dolls and other related products based on the award-winning and double-platinum American country music singer-songwriter, Taylor Swift.


Is it much of a stretch to imagine Swift's face cast in rubber?

Under the agreement, Jakks is planning a fall 2008 launch for a line of role-play toys (including Swift's signature crystal guitar), accessories, craft and activity sets and fashion dolls featuring Swift's most memorable duds. The Malibu, Calif., toymaker is hoping to hook on to the phenomenal success of Taylor Swift, whose double-platinum debut has spawned three Top Ten Billboard Hot Country songs.

UPDATE! Thanks to that now-ubuiquitous-but-we-thought-was-gone toy ingredient -- lead -- Miley Ray Cyrus is having her own merchandising issues.

[Jakks Press Release]