In 1993 a group calling itself the "Barbie Liberation Organization" secretly modified a group of Barbie dolls by implanting voice boxes from G.I. Joe dolls, then returning the Barbies to the toy stores from where they were purchased.[34][35]
Two commercials by automobile company Nissan featuring dolls similar to Barbie and Ken was the subject of another lawsuit in 1997. In the first commercial, a female doll is lured into a car by a doll resembling GI Joe to the dismay of a Ken-like doll, accompanied by Van Halen's You Really Got Me.[38] In the second commercial, the "Barbie" doll is saved by the "G.I. Joe" doll after she is accidentally knocked into a swimming pool by the "Ken" doll to Kiss's "Dr. Love".[39] The makers of the commercial said that the dolls' names were Roxanne, Nick, and Tad. Mattel claimed that the commercial did "irreparable damage" to its products,[40][41]but settled.[42]
Saturday Night Live aired a parody of the Barbie commercials featuring "Gangsta Bitch Barbie" and "Tupac Ken".[43] In 2002, the show also aired a skit, which starred Britney Spears as Barbie's sister Skipper.[44]
Mattel sued artist Tom Forsythe over a series of photographs called Food Chain Barbie in which Barbie winds up in a blender.[45][46][47]
In November 2002 a New York judge refused an injunction against the British-based artist Susanne Pitt, who had produced a "Dungeon Barbie" doll in bondage[48] clothing.
Mattel filed a lawsuit in 2004 against Barbara Anderson-Walley over her website www.barbiesshop.com, which sells fetish clothing.[49
Howdy Partners
If Barbie is so popular, then why do we have to buy her friends?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie
Barbie has frequently been the target of parody: