You can pick up a Ken and Barbie wedding set at most retailers, but you can’t find one that features a same-sex couple. But is the toymaker behind the ubiquitous toy of generations about to fix that oversight?
Matt Jacobi and Nick Caprio hope so. The gay couple is meeting with Mattel executives soon to discuss the idea after they posted about it on social media.
The two men were shopping for a gift for their niece, but were only able to find the normal Barbie and Ken pairing. Determined to make it work, the duo purchased the regular wedding set plus an extra Ken doll.
And then they took their case to social media.
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“We had a difficult time finding a same sex wedding set to give to my niece for her 8th birthday. She and her little sister are flower girls in our upcoming May wedding. We thought it would be special to give her something with a little meaning behind it,” Jacobi posted on Instagram.
“What a bummer you don’t make one with two grooms. Anyway, we had to get creative and make a couple purchases. I hope our custom gift inspires you to make a #GayWedding set!”
“You just look at it from your perspective and you just realize that it’s not, it’s not connecting to us,” Jacobi told Austin CBS station KNXV.
Imagine their surprise when Mattel reached out after the post went up on Instagram!
“It’s going to come up in your family no matter what,” Caprio said.
“As more same sex couples are having kids, your kids are going to have kids in the class that have gay parents and things like that, too. So it’s not that huge of a shock anymore.”