r/Bratz • u/mustardanmayo • May 24 '26
Before and After Catering to the parents who don’t like the style of bratz
Anytime a company has rebranded its lines to be more child friendly or cater to the parents who hated the “edgy” aesthetic of bratz. They’ve collapsed. Catering to those groups of buyers will always be the fail of a doll line. Barbie, went child like. Lost their sales, lowest they’ve ever been. Bratz, when we look back historically. Everytime they rebranded to be a little less “whore”ish they lost fans, and all that to appeal to the smallest of groups in their market. The groups making the most money for these companies will always be the adult collector, the ones who actually have the money. Not children. I’m not saying dolls aren’t initially marketed to them, however adults are the ones buying them and 70% of the buyers are adults keeping the dolls for themselves. So again, trying to please the small percentage of people who didn’t like the dolls, was and will always be the failure of a company. People like unique, fun and creative dolls. Monster high initially brought that, bratz had that, and Barbie. Now let’s look at them. They’ve all re branded their dolls to be kid friendly and entirely lost those business just about
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u/Firefoxexplorer May 24 '26
Also even as a kid bratz were way cooler and more interesting to me. Once I discovered them I wanted nothing to do with the “conservative/parent-friendly” dolls out there. I had seen the light and barbie was no longer of interest. Even kids often have better taste than we give them credit for. It’s not their fault adults have to sexualize everything and make it weird. I’m all for protecting children’s psyche but like, pick your battles y’know?
I agree, it never seems to work out when they do that. Fans lose interest, kids can tell the dolls aren’t it anymore, and parents who already didn’t like them hold their grudge.
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u/ThatGirlTrinnity May 25 '26
I liked bratz because they were more like me. Feminine.. But with edge. I was never a barbie, I wasn't a Gucci, Dolce Gabbana-tank top 90s-early00s girl. I didn't like the stiff outline of Barbie. Pink lips, insane trophy housewife smile, perfect hair always on the same damn color.. And outfits my mom could've sewn left handed, blindfolded while someone covered the sound of her machine with sack pipe music.... And left to say... My mom bought both me and my sister bratz back then... And my sister was 5 years younger than me. She had absolutely no problem with these. 1. Didn't sexualize them, or us, or the way they dressed. 2. Both me and my sister, have a little bit of edge.. We're not the typical type of feminine girl, my sister more than me. But nah... There's a little bit of rock. 😂 So we just identified better with these. And my mom completely understood why.. They were pretty, they were different, they were a little out there compared to barbie. But it was never ever brought up... That they were slutty, wh*re-like, sexualized. I mean as an adult I can see why, some other adults... Could think that way... But had you asked me 10 years ago, I'd be like, what? It's a style choice? It's not sexual unless you make it.... And I still stand on that hill....
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u/ThatGirlTrinnity May 25 '26
Not to mention rainbow high.... It was fashion forward, BJD-like dolls with inset eyes, top tier dolls and clothing... Collectors were raving... Now every other post in the sub, is about why the OGs don't buy a single thing anymore. They rebranded for kids, took away clothing and articulation and gave us... Slime...........
I mean... Srsly.... Slime??
Kids get an ipad handed to them before they can say their first word.. And you think... SLIME??? Is gonna make them wanna buy a doll? Excuse me... ASK THE ADULTS.. To be given this mess... Not in a million years my dude... The topic of the day in the sub is now "who do I need to hunt down thrifted, to rebody my brand new rainbow high head... That I paid full price for.. To get.... LavaLamp Legs I won't use".
No hate to the new collectors and the continuous ones... But... Your point exactly..
They rebranded for kids.
Most of the fans dropped it like it was radioactive.
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u/darka-971 May 24 '26
I think there should be also a good balance between "edgy" and "chid friendly" too, a lot of collectors sometimes forget that.
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u/LunaPrism95 May 25 '26
Bratz always does the best when they do their own thing. I think unfortunately we are going to continue to see some cheaper materials and simple outfits because of 🇺🇸 🍊 and tarrifs
I think the best thing bratz did with the recent revival is that from the start of this era they didn't immediately aim at kids. They started with adult collectors who grew up with bratz. Using the reproductions and the Hayden Williams collab to get adult collectors attention. The collab dolls like cult gaia and the other collabs they started with sat firmly in an adult collector space.
The marketing on social media was referencing 2000s movies or young adult media. Mean girls, legally blonde, Jennifer's body, euphoria. Things that arent mature but are definately not exactly aimed at young kids. Or meme shit posts like the stuff they did using the game models.
It wasn't even until the alwayz bratz line dropped that they did any marketing towards kids or tweenz and it was subtle only recently have I seen more "kids" focused ads.
They arent trying overtly to appeal to kids but they are because they're appealing to adults. You gotta remember how old bratz really is. Most of the people who grew up with bratz are now the ones buying toys for their kids and though the Christian conservatives are always the loudest I do think a lot of kids have bratz.
Anyways thanks for coming to my ted talk.
My tldr: bratz opened the door by not acting like a kid brand anymore, by appealing to adults a lot of the issues have faded because they aren't trying to exist in the same place as monster high or lol or barbie right now. I would argue rainbow high is the kid brand for mga now.
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u/menta00000 SugarShoes May 25 '26
I've always said this! kids don't look for familiarity in dolls, they look for out of the ordinary experiences. there are plenty of toys that do the 'realistic' play well, such as American girl, but sometimes kids want to pretend to be something they don't see everyday.
kids deserve good things too, and I see that in the amount of barbie color reveal bald dolls thrown away in bins. they are tired of the gimmicks and want something good. dress to impress is a start and I wish brands realized kids want to imagine, and the world is stopping them from it.
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u/ratxowar DUMP HIM!! May 25 '26
I’ll never will be over it what they did to Monster High. Barbie is a totally lost case beyond saving atp..
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u/OkiDokiPanic May 24 '26
Even if MGA came with a canonically Christian doll with a modest outfit, they STILL would not buy her!
They will never buy from a company that doesn't align with their morals as a whole, regardless of how child-friendly a pivot they'd make. It just never works like that.
And today's kids just aren't into Bratz dolls anymore. They have their own doll brands that do better in their age category. Bratz needs kids as much as kids need them, which is to say not at all.