Thursday 30 April 2009

Tattoo Barbie and the Zombies


Don't worry, this isn't the title of my latest WIP (CPs breathe sigh of relief at this point ;-) but after waking up at 4am (it's light here already at that time, can you believe?) and feeling a bit fed up I looked to see what news stories Google Alerts had sent me today. 
One that made me smile was the news that Barbie has got herself a 'Ken' tattoo. Now you'd never catch Sindy doing something like that (Yes, I was a Sindy girl :-)


The surprise interesting article was in Management Today (trust me here!) - If you can ignore the patronising bias there are some really interesting updated facts. You know the three second line? Well now it's one M&B book sold every one and a half seconds. 
There are also some great quotes from MD Guy Hallowes about the direction M&B is taking. Including - "We don't disguise the fact that we want more younger readers" says Hallowes. "Our heavy buyers tend to be older. But we do have young mums, the people who read Grazia and OK."
Um, I'm saying nothing about that quote but you know what I'm thinking, right? I may have emitted a slight squawk at that point...
There are also some interesting snippets from Tessa Shapcott and overall I'd say it's the most informative press article I've seen about M&B recently.

Hmm, actually I'm thinking that "Tattoo Barbie and the Zombies" would make a great title for a satirical novel I thought about writing after extreme sickness and boredom lead me to watch the entire series of 'Paris Hitlon's British Best friend'...

7 comments:

Jackie Ashenden said...

That's the second time I've heard about Barbie's tattoo! Someone else pointed it out to me as well. Does this mean our heroines can have tats now too? :-) I was a Sindy girl like you, Lorraine. And Daisy. That hussy Barbie has a lot to answer for.
BTW intrigued by the Jane Austen with Zombies. Zombies are now apparently 'hot'. Which is bizarre as there's nothing sexy about a zombie.

Joanne Coles said...

Oh my gosh! I can't believe Barbie is tattooed! Sigh. Yet another thing we will have to talk our kids out of ...

Lorraine, you deserve an afternoon nap getting up at that ungodly hour :-)

Rachael Johns said...

You MUST write 'Tattoo Barbies and The Zombies' - I'd buy it!!! And I DOOOOOOOOOO love Barbie's tattoo, although I preferred Sindy too. I once had a first sentence of a book that was about a tattoo!!

Suzanne Ross Jones said...

Over the years, we've bought a couple of Indian Barbies with nose piercings - I thought they were pretty radical, but that tattoo just takes it to another level. Didn't Barbie break up with Ken a few years ago - I'm sure it was on the news - so what's she doing getting a tattoo of an ex's name? Silly girl.

Suzanne Ross Jones said...

Answer to my own question: Barbie and Ken were reunited on Valentine's Day. Personally, I think she'd have been better off with Action Man.
(Does the fact that I've researched this give any indication of how far I'll go so I don't have to rewrite my synopsis?)

Lacey Devlin said...

This is the first I've heard of the Barbie tattoo and I'm pretty sure my mother would have died before letting me have a doll like that. Can't wait to tell her actually... I was in Toys R Us the other day and I stopped and looked around and realised just how far we've come. I mean the toys that DON'T have some sort of mechanism to make them talk, walk and do the laundry are few and far between it's almost scary. Perhaps I'll start making toys out of tin cans just to avoid the trauma...

Lorraine said...

Jackie - Haven't heard of Daisy. I can't say I find Zombies 'hot' either. I mean Vampires I can kind of get, but Zombies?

Jo - Did you notice that Ken hasn't got a tattoo? He's obviously hedging his bets in case they break up again...

Rach - Thanks, I'll let you know if I ever write it :-)

Suzanne - Yes, she should have at least insisted that Ken get a tattoo as well. Action man is definitely a better option. Hope you've managed to progress beyond STAS!

Lacey - If there's a toy that does the laundry I want it!!!