Portal:Toys/Selected article/10

Flavas is an American line of fashion dolls created by Mattel in 2003. They are multi-ethnic and have an urban, hip hop style with "bling-bling" jewellery and stick-on tattoos, described as "ghetto-fabulous" by Newsweek. They were designed to appeal to tweens (8- to 12-year-olds) and compete with the widely successful Bratz dolls. They were marketed as "reality-based" and "authentic" and have more points of articulation than traditional fashion dolls for more expressive posing. Flavas were criticized for being stereotypical, bad role models, and a misrepresentation of hip hop culture. Their multiculturalism was described as positive, and British analysts expected their "risqué nature" to translate to high sales. But following sales that were described as "disastrous" they were discontinued within a year.