Ken is Tweeting. But they wouldn’t dare let Barbie talk

Suddenly alert to the wide world of social networking and the concomitant preternatural maturity of girls, Mattel has slammed the Net with a Ken and Barbie site (barbieandken.com) and a number of pages for the 50-year-old teen lovers estranged since 2004. Its pre-Valentine’s Day campaign asks Net users to help Ken win back his girlfriend.

The company has, further, introduced yet another Ken doll, who now looks much less like a thinner George Michael, or a better-structured version of Hollywood Squares comic Paul Lynde. His hair is a windswept, surfer mullet; he has ripped arms and shredded abs. And he speaks.

“Sweet Talking Ken” records one’s voice then repeats the words in three
different voices, the best of which is a sexy Barry White-ish purr.

Ken is Tweeting. But they wouldn’t dare let Barbie talk - The Globe and Mail