South Jersey Woman Urging Mattel To Create 'Beautiful And Bald Barbie'
By Robin Rieger
SEWELL, N.J. (CBS) -- A New Jersey woman is using social media with the hopes of influencing Mattel to create a specialized Barbie doll she feels will help children with cancer.
"Almost all little girls love Barbie", says Jane Bingham of Sewell, New Jersey.
She's a fan too.
She admires Mattel's array of Barbies including, an astronaut and a doctor. She hopes to get enough people to write Mattel so the company would make bald Barbies that look like the one she photo shopped and posted on her Beautiful and Bald Barbie Facebook page.
She thinks it would help young girls with cancer, including her friend's daughter with Leukemia who've lost their hair and can feel self conscious.
"We're trying to have children be able to say 'she's bald like I am, she's pretty, I'm pretty,'" says Bingham.
Bingham lost her hair this summer during chemotherapy for lymphoma.
"People would stare and I would just think how much harder that is for a child.
She saw a news report about a one of a kind bald Barbie called 'Princess Genesis' made by Mattel for a young girl with cancer who lost her hair.
Bingham says more should be made.
"For a little girl, for her doll, that's like a support," she says.
Bingham says, online, she has over 42,000 supporters, but right here in her own neighborhood, she has the special support of one young boy.
"It'll help kids feel like they fit in more," says Joe Albanese.
Albanese has Alopecia, a medical condition that left him bald. But he's ok with it.
"A lot of professional athletes shave their heads a lot so that also helps", he says.
Eyewitness News did not get a response from Mattel about the bald Barbie effort, but Bingham says she has.
"Form letter appreciating the outpouring of support", says Bingham.
She hopes the company comes through with bald Barbies, saying her homemade version with a shaved head doesn't cut it.
On Friday moring, Mattel released the following statement in regards to Bingham's campaign:
We are honored that Jane Bingham and Beckie Sypin believe that Barbie could be the face of such an important cause. Mattel appreciates and respects the passion that has been built up for the request for a bald Barbie doll. As you might imagine, we receive hundreds of passionate requests for various dolls to be added to our collection. We take all of them seriously and are constantly exploring new and different dolls to be added to our line. We are dedicated to supporting a variety of children's organizations and needs throughout the year through a multitude of philanthropic activities. In the past 10 years alone, Mattel and the Mattel Children's Foundation have donated close to $30 million and more than half a million toys to children's hospitals across the country. We support the Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA and the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions, which encompasses approximately 220 hospitals. Mattel also actively supports Children Affected by AIDS Foundation and the Make-A-Wish organization around the world. In addition, many of our employees have given countless hours of volunteer service to these and other children's organizations. Our donations benefit countless numbers of boys and girls in children's hospitals each year who deal with a variety of illnesses and challenges including cancer.
RELATED LINK: https://www.facebook.com/BeautifulandBaldBarbie
