American Girl Hates America?
Not being an 8-year-old girl I didn't know much about the Mattel line of pricy dolls before I moved to Chicago.
Founded in the 80s and bought by Mattel in 1998 the American Girl company produces 18” dolls for girls – many with a historical connection. The store is a big draw for out-of-towners shopping in Chicago. As one female shopper at nearby Marshall Field’s mentioned, “The American Girl store is definitely a destination.”
Fall 2005 is proving to be a big season for the company. Not only are they re-launching one of their more popular dolls, they also have a new animated feature airing on WB at the end of the month.
On the surface American Girl appears to be just another marketing success story. So, it should come as some surprise that something as innocuous as a doll store should be steeped in controversy.
First, some background for the uninitiated – The American Girl Store doesn’t just sell dolls – its sells a story along with its products. Drop $87.00 on a doll and you also get a fictionalized storybook that provides the doll’s background. The American Girl store upset residents of the largely Mexican-American Chicago neighborhood Pilsen earlier this year when one doll’s story described the neighborhood as dangerous.
Okay, so The American Girl Store stepped in it with Chicago Mexican-Americans. We live in multicultural society – it is impossible to cross the street without offending some group somewhere you say… but now American Girl is back in the crosshairs of another group, this time pro-life groups from around the country.
The offence? An afflation with Girls Inc., formerly the Girls Club of America. As Girls Inc. describes itself, “In centers across the country, generations of girls have learned their strengths, explored their worlds, prepared for productive, interesting lives, and offered each other the support necessary in dealing with the challenges of growing up.” It sounds innocent enough, but the conservative group American Family Association claims that the group has a pro-choice, pro-lesbian agenda.
The afflation centers around Girls Inc. bracelets sold at American Girl stores – from which the company donates 70 cents for each sold to Girl’s Inc. So far American Girl has pledged $50,000.
In a statement calling for the boycott of the store the AFA said, “The problem here is that Girls Inc. has on their webpage a statement saying they particularly support abortion and a girl's right to abort an unwanted baby. They were quite clear about their support for Roe, so there is no mistake or room for confusion on that count. Additionally, Girls Inc. supports contraceptives for girls.”
Girls Inc. responds by saying, “Recently, our mission to help girls develop their self-esteem and self-reliance has become the target of false, inflammatory statements from people who are pursuing a narrow political agenda.”
The American Girl store in Chicago is the company’s flagship store and was well prepared for the Black Friday shopping rush with sconces setup in front staffed by numerous employees to assist customers going into and out of the store.
Perhaps suspecting the worse, the employees were evasive once I identified myself as a reporter for BFW. Motioning toward two other men the first employee I spoke with said, “Umm… you should talk to them.” These two other guys – I assume they were mangers – asked who I was with and told me I’d have to speak with their PR person. After a few minutes one of the men returned with a card for American Girl Director of Public Relations Julie Parks. Parks did not immediately return my phone call.
In the mean time, the Illinois Pro-Life Action League popped up on the scene and immediately started handing out signboards to their volunteers who quickly fell into picket-line formation.
Spokesperson Ann Scheidler said that they were there because the American Girl company had consistently refused to acknowledge their gripe. Saying the store’s affiliation with Girl’s Inc. was, “offensive to Christian and pro-life” families Scheidler called for the company to return to its roots.
The protestors – perhaps a dozen – carried signs reading “Dads for Life,” “Girls for Life.” Many had also brought their own children to the protest. I pointed out that some of the girls present at the protest had American Girl dolls tucked under their arms. Is that ironic? “Our problem isn’t with the product. We like the product. I’ve even brought my granddaughter here. We had lunch in their café,” said Scheidler.
In addition to the signs, the Action League was handing out glossy fliers to passersby. One reads, “Since American Girl has chosen to fund an organization that supports the killing of unborn children, including 1,800 little girls every day, we are calling for a boycott of American Girl…”
I spoke for a moment with one such passerby who was pragmatic about the protestors saying that their message certainly didn’t sway her against American Girl. Another shopper pointed out that if you didn’t want to support Girls Inc. you didn’t have to buy their bracelet.
Almost as soon as the protestors showed up they were met with counter-protestors. “We were here earlier, but they weren’t,” one woman sporting a pro-Girls Inc. poster explained. She was quickly joined by a woman carrying a NARAL poster. The two commiserated quickly, “I’m pro-choice too!”
What does all this mean for the American Girl company? As Scheidler pointed out, American Girl has reduced the presence of Girl’s Inc. on their website, “and I don’t think the program is going to continue past this year.” It’s likely that pro-life groups like the Action League and the AFA will chalk this up to a victory, although they are still miffed that the corporate response has been so slow.