Walmart was criticised for selling black Barbies at nearly half the price of white dolls
Posted on 03/12/2010 4:11:48 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Walmart under fire for selling black Barbies at half price of white dolls
An American supermarket chain has come under fire for cutting the price of black Barbies to nearly half that of the white dolls.
By Heidi Blake
Published: 9:07AM GMT 11 Mar 2010
Walmart was criticised for selling black Barbies at nearly half the price of white dolls
Walmart stocks Mattel’s fair-skinned Ballerina Barbie dolls and its darker-skinned Ballerina Theresa dolls at many of its stores, but the chain has now been criticised for “valuing blackness less than whiteness” by cutting the price of the black doll.
A photograph posted to the website FunnyJunk.com by a user called Amber Frederick shows the black-skinned dolls priced $3 alongside a row of white-skinned dolls on sale for $5.93.
The picture, captioned “I Love my Wal-Mart”, is believed to have been taken in a Louisiana branch of the store.
A spokeswoman for the chain said the price change was part of efforts to clear shelf space for new spring stock.
“To prepare for spring inventory, a number of items are marked for clearance,” she said. “Both are great dolls. The red price sticker indicates that this particular doll was on clearance when the photo was taken.”
But critics have said Walmart should have considered the implications of its pricing decision more carefully.
“The implication of lowering the price is that it’s devaluing the black doll,” said Theresa Dye, the executive director of the Northside Center for Child Development.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
If the items were moving they wouldn’t be slashing the price. This has absolutely nothing to do with racism, but is being made into yet another issue.
It isn’t Wal-Mart that’s “de-valuing” the black dolls—it’s the consumer who doesn’t buy them at the same rate as the white dolls.
Ahhh, my first guess would be that they are not selling as fast as the other ones so Wal-mart cut the price to move the product.
The "Northside Center for Child Development" is more like the "NorthBroadside Center for attack on free trade and commerce"
Sell them at any price..give them away free...I don’t want one.
LOL!
They’d bit*h if their ice cream was cold.
Where is the Asian Barbie? Native American Barbie? Indian Barbie? Transsexual Barbie?
Just saying...
/mark
Either way they can cry "R A C I S M!!!"...
If they determine their own self worth by the value of a Barbie doll then they will never, ever, get out of their situation.
What do they charge for the Transsexual Barbies?
LLS
Maybe they should check the produce section to see if this store is selling watermelons at a deep discount...give me a break.
LOL, first time I’ve heard that. Thanks!
Why do I have to pay twice as much to by my white daughter a white Barbie?
Does anybody really think anybody at WalMart actully knew the color of the doll’s skin when they lowered the price of this particular item? A certain SKU was not moving, so they cut the price to clear them out. The process is, for all intents and purposes, automatic.
One doll is not selling as well as the other. This is not really surprising. There are always imbalances like this in the retail market. In the larger scheme of things, the manufacturer will surely correct this problem by producing fewer of the lower-selling model.
Either color,they still look like trailer trash!
More whiny black racists with WAY too much time on their hands.
Next.........
“Where is the Asian Barbie? Native American Barbie? Indian Barbie? Transsexual Barbie?”
exactly, LOLOLOLOLOL
Why aren’t the white people bitchin?
Can’t this be considered another hand out for the underprivileged African American community?
half/half!(er....sorry)
These dolls are supposed to be ballerinas.
Wearing a tutu and spandex on stage is one thing. Wearing it to the mall is another!
“Why aren’t the white people bitchin?”
See my post #17.
We’ve got to be fair and balanced.
Would those who are upset prefer that Wal Mart sell them @ the 3/5 ratio that the Constitution used when counting for the Census before slavery was prohibited by the 13rh Amendment?
Maybe raising the price to that amount would stop their whining.
The black Ken skier doll doesn’t sell well either
LYNCH MENTALITY!
They couldn’t sell watermelons by the side of the road if the state police were directing traffic.
Sorry,
;o)
Hmong Barbie.
Its called supply and demand.
Simple solution: Get rid of white Barbies. She’s raciss.
“Other experts agree. Walmart should have decided that “it’s really important that we as a company don’t send a message that we value blackness less than whiteness,” said Lisa Wade, an assistant sociology professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles.”
So, by that logic, increasing the price of the doll above the white doll would honor ‘blackness’?
Good grief. There are plenty of real problems in this world - genuine incidents of racism included - to worry about without some pinheaded ‘expert’ trying to start controversy where none exists.
Raise the price to $10 because they’re special and rare.
Then listen to the complaint that will nullify the original charges.
I can almost hear the protesters chanting:
“Charge us more!”
“Charge us more!”
“Charge us more!”
with signs that read:
“Clearance Sale is just another word for ETHNIC CLEANSING!”
If it will make them happy, I will gladly buy up all of Walmart’s black barbies for $3.00 and sell them to those who were offended for $6.00.
I wish Walmart would grow a pair and tell the whiners to go do anatomically impossible things to themselves.
Imagine the complaining if the black dolls cost twice as much as the white ones. The lawyers would get involved.
Hanging out at Walmart looking for something you find offensive is no way to go through life.
The more they scream ‘racism’, the less meaningful it becomes.
That would be my first guess too. I heard somewhere that Wal Mart doesn’t like to keep most things on the shelf longer than 2 weeks. If it isn’t moving, it is either reduced or shipped to a store where those items are moving.
Mattel and the participating retailers probably lose money on the Black Barbie, and they knew that would be the case going into the deal...PC cover has a cost.
How bout an Obarbie?
Tell Homey Barbie to go back to the shelf.
The leftist vermin want every company and every institution in the country to be constantly race-conscious. If skin color is not on your mind 24/7, they will seek to destroy you.
Thats the point...they’d be out of a job. They have to keep that race thingy going don’t you know.
I guess not enough of them are voting Democrat.
Walmart comes under fire for being Walmart.
If they were unionized, none of this garbage would be happening.
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