Mattel unveils Chinese American doll as American Girl to fight Anti-Asian sentiment

Mattel is launching 2022 with full steam ahead. Following the announcement of Barbie’s collaboration with Balmain, the brand has now revealed its 2022 Girl of the Year for the American Girl brand, Corinne Tan amidst anti-Asian sentiments.

According to Mattel, Corinne must find her balance as she adjusts to her new blended family and the courage to speak up when faced with xenophobic comments. The brand added that through Corinne’s stories, young readers can learn that home means being surrounded by the people they love and to be proud of who they are, while advocating for positive change.

Jamie Cygielman, General Manager of American Girl said the brand aims to reflect what it means to be an American girl today with the addition of the Corinne Tan doll. “While filled with outdoor adventure and fun, Corinne’s message is, ultimately, about the power of love—between families, friends, and communities—and the strength and courage that comes from it. We created Corinne to be a positive role model our fans can look up to and learn from as we all work toward a world where everyone is treated fairly and with respect.”

To develop the character, American Girl engaged author Wendy Wan-Long Shang, along with freelance illustrator Peijin Yang, to create two books “Corinne” and “Corinne to the Rescue”. According to Shang, “What I really hope is that there is some part of Corinne’s story that makes readers feel seen, whether it’s because they are Asian American, or because they’re part of a blended family, or because they love skiing. I think when readers feel seen, they realise that they matter and their experiences matter, and that they are meant to be the stars of their own stories!”

Bringing Corinne and her stories to life is a beautiful 18-inch doll, featuring brown eyes and long, straight black hair with turquoise highlights. To create the doll, American Girl designers consulted with the author and advisers on several exclusive features, including Corinne’s hair style and color, skin tone, and newly designed eyes.

To help amplify young voices like Corinne’s, American Girl is partnering with AAPI Youth Rising (AYR), a student-led nonprofit that’s bringing awareness to the rise in xenophobia against Asians in America and calling for positive change through education. To support their mission, American Girl is donating US$25,000 toward their ONE/180 pledge, which asks schools and teachers across the country to include at least one classroom lesson about Asian American and Pacific Islander history and culture during the school year. Today through December 30, 2022, customers can donate to AYR at americangirl.com and at American Girl retail stores nationwide. To learn more about AYR, and read an in-depth interview with the organization’s 13-year-old founder, Mina Fedor, and other members, visit American Girl’s parenting site, Explore.

The brand has also created several events to hype up the new addition to the American Girl family. It has collaborated in a livestream with PopSugar, which will be hosted by gold medal figure skater Tara Lipinski, and actress and dancer Jenna Alvarez. Viewers can enjoy crafts, quizzes, and exclusive footage, along with an appearance from American figure skater and 2022 Olympic hopeful, Alysa Liu.

Mattel is launching 2022 with full steam ahead. Following the announcement of Barbie’s collaboration with Balman, the brand has now revealed its 2022 Girl of the Year for the American Girl brand, Corinne Tan amidst anti-Asian sentiments.

According to Mattel, Corinne must find her balance as she adjusts to her new blended family and the courage to speak up when faced with xenophobic comments. The brand added that through Corinne’s stories, young readers can learn that home means being surrounded by the people they love and to be proud of who they are, while advocating for positive change.

Jamie Cygielman, General Manager of American Girl said the brand aims to reflect what it means to be an American girl today with the addition of the Corinne Tan doll. “While filled with outdoor adventure and fun, Corinne’s message is, ultimately, about the power of love—between families, friends, and communities—and the strength and courage that comes from it. We created Corinne to be a positive role model our fans can look up to and learn from as we all work toward a world where everyone is treated fairly and with respect.”

To develop the characters, American Girl engaged author Wendy Wan-Long Shang, along with freelance illustrator Peijin Yang, to create two books “Corinne” and “Corinne to the Rescue”. According to Shang, “What I really hope is that there is some part of Corinne’s story that makes readers feel seen, whether it’s because they are Asian American, or because they’re part of a blended family, or because they love skiing. I think when readers feel seen, they realise that they matter and their experiences matter, and that they are meant to be the stars of their own stories!”

Bringing Corinne and her stories to life is a beautiful 18-inch doll, featuring brown eyes and long, straight black hair with turquoise highlights. To create the doll, American Girl designers consulted with the author and advisers on several exclusive features, including Corinne’s hair style and color, skin tone, and newly designed eyes.

To help amplify young voices like Corinne’s, American Girl is partnering with AAPI Youth Rising (AYR), a student-led nonprofit that’s bringing awareness to the rise in xenophobia against Asians in America and calling for positive change through education. To support their mission, American Girl is donating US$25,000 toward their ONE/180 pledge, which asks schools and teachers across the country to include at least one classroom lesson about Asian American and Pacific Islander history and culture during the school year. Today through December 30, 2022, customers can donate to AYR at americangirl.com and at American Girl retail stores nationwide. To learn more about AYR, and read an in-depth interview with the organization’s 13-year-old founder, Mina Fedor, and other members, visit American Girl’s parenting site, Explore.

The brand has also created several events to hype up the new addition to the American Girl family. It has collaborated in a livestream with PopSugar, which will be hosted by gold medal figure skater Tara Lipinski, and actress and dancer Jenna Alvarez. Viewers can enjoy crafts, quizzes, and exclusive footage, along with an appearance from American figure skater and 2022 Olympic hopeful, Alysa Liu.

Last year a study by Nielsen found that US$153 million in digital advertising was spent across websites that published articles including hate speech against Asians in the first quarter of 2021. Meanwhile, ad campaigns from a dozen Fortune 500 companies and at least 66 brands were found adjacent to content including anti-Asian hate speech. Additionally, there were 38.1 million visitors to digital news sites that published articles flagged as including hate speech against Asians in the first quarter of 2021. 

According to the study, brands have unknowingly placed their ads next to approximately 1,280 pieces of content containing hate speech against people of Asian descent and 5,000 of the ads were placed next to Asian hate speech in the last year. Through the use of AI, Nielsen also found that more than 250 ad campaigns were impacted.

Related articles:
Netflix shows support for Asian Americans with viral social post
Bling Empire's Kane Lim keeps it real: 'I don’t take jobs that I don’t identify with'