Is it a bad thing that I never thought of Strawberry Shortcake as chubby? I had no clue what shape she was under all of that clothing! The new version looks older, not like a child. Boo.
When did she make her debut? SS was around when I was a child in the '80s. There weren't as many fat people back then, although maybe it was just not in the media so much. Liking SS didn't make people fat, so why they felt the need to change it is beyond me.
Besides, really, how bad can the dessert be? A slice of fairly dry (low on fat), lightly sweetened white cake - more like a biscuit, really - covered with fresh strawberries and drenched in skim milk is actually rather healthy on the whole. Heck, that used to be our dinner when the strawberries in our garden were in season!
Yeah, rhowyn, I hadn't really thought of her as "chubby," either. (Truth be told, I hadn't really thought of her at all -- I was a My Little Pony girl, myself.) But I found it sad that toy "modernizing" in this article (or in this marketing trend) is somehow synonymous with making representational figures slimmer, more streamlined (even Angelina Ballerina looks leaner), more adult, less rolly-polly (just like the cute little chubby kitty is replaced with a cell phone.)
And as someone points out below, SS now looks like a Bratz doll. Blech.
Yep. They sent out a PRESS RELEASE! Announcing that they're now a size four, drive a Jeep now instad of a...Fiat (I believe) and I think one other change I can't recall.
It seems more that they turned her from a little girl with the figure of a 5 year old, to a pre-teen. The old dolls were not chubby looking at all, but they did look like little girls. The new ones are ridiculously skinny, making them very difficult to dress and the clothing and accessories seem to indicate they are at least 12.
'We’re downplaying characters that were part of Strawberry’s world but who didn’t immediately shout out fruit.'” Ahaha, so I guess the Peculiar Purple Pie Man is no longer part of the line? He was pretty creepy anyway.
Yeah, from what I recall he hasn't eaten cookies for a while, but now they are emphasizing that he likes fruit and "healthy snacks"
I think what annoys me is the idea that these characters are obviously influencing us. I grew up with the original cookie monster and while from time to time (when mom wasn't watching) we might imitate his frenzied cookie eating but we certainly didn't consume more cookies because Cookie Monster was so cool and he did it. Same with the Strawberry Shortcake dolls. My siblings didn't consume more desserts just because they played with the dolls.
I don't understand that. We were all smart enough to understand you don't want to imitate Oscar the Grouch, but we weren't smart enough to understand you don't want to imitate Cookie Monster? (Well, a general "we"; if you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I wanted to be CM because he got paid to hang out with Kermit and eat cookies all day. I'm still crushed that's not a career option.)
My sisters and I also had SS dolls, and we only ate desserts when adults fed them to us. I tend to think that's the REAL change since we were kids--back then, the kids didn't run the show.
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When did she make her debut? SS was around when I was a child in the '80s. There weren't as many fat people back then, although maybe it was just not in the media so much. Liking SS didn't make people fat, so why they felt the need to change it is beyond me.
Besides, really, how bad can the dessert be? A slice of fairly dry (low on fat), lightly sweetened white cake - more like a biscuit, really - covered with fresh strawberries and drenched in skim milk is actually rather healthy on the whole. Heck, that used to be our dinner when the strawberries in our garden were in season!
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And as someone points out below, SS now looks like a Bratz doll. Blech.
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'We’re downplaying characters that were part of Strawberry’s world but who didn’t immediately shout out fruit.'” Ahaha, so I guess the Peculiar Purple Pie Man is no longer part of the line? He was pretty creepy anyway.
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I think what annoys me is the idea that these characters are obviously influencing us. I grew up with the original cookie monster and while from time to time (when mom wasn't watching) we might imitate his frenzied cookie eating but we certainly didn't consume more cookies because Cookie Monster was so cool and he did it. Same with the Strawberry Shortcake dolls. My siblings didn't consume more desserts just because they played with the dolls.
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My sisters and I also had SS dolls, and we only ate desserts when adults fed them to us. I tend to think that's the REAL change since we were kids--back then, the kids didn't run the show.
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