The Death of Bratz: Offensive Dolls and Recent Court Ruling

On Wednesday, a court ruling has nearly assured the death of the Bratz brand. Mattel sued MGA Entertainment Inc., alleging that the Bratz brand is their property because Carter Bryant, who designed the Bratz line, was working for Mattel when he dreamed the concept up. Carter says that he thought it up before he started working for Mattel, but the courts see it in a different light.

Already they've been ordered to hand over $10 million for copyright infringement and up to about $90 million for breach of contract to Mattel.

But it was the ruling this past Wednesday that might well sound the death knell for Bratz and MGA-the courts ruled that they must pull ALL Bratz dolls off the shelves around the country. Despite the devastating ruling, MGA had this to say:

MGA did not immediately respond to a request for an interview but issued a statement Wednesday saying it believes the "jury verdict was clear in denying 99 percent of Mattel's copyright infringement claim and that issuing such a broad injunction is inconsistent with the limited jury verdict and the law."--http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28050991

It's remarkably sunny outlook for a company whose foundation is Bratz. Still, even with the death of Bratz, they have other to market. It's possible MGA could come out of this scarred but still standing.

Mattel was looking for any angle they could, since other fashion dolls like Bratz have crowded out the market for Barbies. The court battle is still not totally settled, despite the fact that this suit has been in the pipeline for about four years.

Many are rejoicing over the demise of Bratz, as it was found to be even more offensive than Barbies.

Barbie's near impossible curves offended a generation. But we hadn't seen anything yet. Bratz went on the market in 2001, sparking debates as their popularity grew. Like Barbies, these noseless dolls were selling the myth of womanhood to kids. Hyper-sexualized, the Bratz dolls were deemed more offensive than Barbie ever was because the dolls look like girls pretending to be women- which is exactly what we don't want our six-year olds to do.

While Bratz dolls came in all colors, the emphasis on commercialism and the shallow was even more thinly veiled than it was in Barbies. Many a parent will not be sad to see this brand of dolls go-if the court ruling is upheld.

The other scenario that's been bandied about is that Bratz will not die, that they will continue and Mattel will get a big cut of the profit. Having been subjected to the live action Bratz movie myself, I'm hoping that they stay off the shelves.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28050991