Mattel USA and Mattel South Africa are on board to distribute the African American Barbie across the country should the project succeed.
A former US secret service agent has taken to Kickstarter in a bid to raise enough money to bring a range of African American Barbies to South Africa.
Mattel USA and Mattel South Africa are already on board to import, distribute and market the doll should it reach its crowdfunding target.
The project to raise $40,000 was launched by Mark E. Blanton when he noticed a lack of the presence of African American Barbies, but did not see a lack of South African girls playing with her Caucasian counter part.
"It occurred to me that if South African girls were excited about a doll that did not look them, imagine what it could do if they had one that did,” said Blanton via his Kickstarter project.
"My plan is to give South African girls the opportunity to fall in love with being who they are and dream beyond the expectations of their past.”
Having registered the African American Barbie doll project as a South African project, Blanton explains that should the project succeed it will also create a raft of new jobs in the territory, once retail space is secured.
Blanton has already invested $100,000 in the project, but now needs a further $40,000 to ensure its completion.
"I have worked hard building a strong team around this project, including securing a Brand Ambassador that is excited about the ‘bringing the African American Barbie to south Africa’ campaign.
