Girls don’t buy toys, right? What could girls possibly want that would be profitable for businesses to invest in? Certainly not superhero merch, right? RIGHT?! I mean, executives wouldn’t have just avoided creating superhero merch for women for completely sexist reasons, SURELY. There’s probably a math behind it that just constantly suggests that little girls really just want the newest version of the Easy Bake Oven, generation after generation.
“We think DC Super Hero Girls can be bigger than a $1 billion brand.”
Wait, what?
“In the last few years, girl empowerment has come to the fore, and the consumer products department saw this opportunity,” said Diane Nelson earlier this week. “We have strong female characters in the DC universe, and decided that creating a program around female teenage super heroes could give young girls role models they’ve never had before.”
OH. So you mean that now that you’ve realized that Barbie and Disney Princesses bring in the BIG BUCKS, suddenly it’s clicked in that girls are profitable? Well then.
Snark aside, I’m thrilled that this line of toys is getting much needed recognition and has people excited for what could be. Girls have been catered to in such primitive ways for far too long and the fact that little girls everywhere will have options that don’t make people say “That’s not for you!” is spectacular.
DC has even gone as far as to help kids learn more about these characters and their backstories by creating original shorts and animations that are being released directly on YouTube and the Cartoon Network. Apparently apps are even being developed that revolve around the DC Super Hero Girls line.
Having a big company like DC/Warner means a lot for other companies out there unsure of whether or not to take a risk on a gendered line for girls. Ideally it would be nice to just have TOYS for everyone vs. trying to find a way to market them to one gender or the other, but I recognize that these things take time and progress is slowly being made. It’s refreshing to hope that companies won’t shy away from a female market and they will instead, embrace them.
“I hope that young girls get the things I hear about from every fanboy — an incredible sense of empowerment and aspiration,” Nelson said. “It’s about getting hope and inspiration from powerful role models. It’s about saving the day, alongside men.”
