Why should toys be gender specific? According to Hasbro, playing with dolls can help children learning to care, love and protect. And this shouldn’t only include girls. So why can’t both boys and girls play with dolls?
Created by the agency, Ogilvy Brazil, the “We All Can Take Care” campaign features a video showing how both boys and girls are having fun while illustrating what they learn from playing with dolls. The campaign highlights that the children in the video are not only practising caring, loving and taking responsibility, but are actually becoming better persons. The children in the video are feeding the Baby Alive doll, changing its diaper and pretending to be doctors, which show the developmental benefits that come by playing with dolls, according to educator and author, Maria Barbato. “It leads to emotional development, new ways of interacting and learning what respect is all about,” she said in a statement about the campaign.
Marketing director for Hasbro in Brazil, Kellen Silverio, also points out how both boys and girls can learn a lot from playing with dolls: “This is a free-spirited, playful gesture that nurtures love and that counts for much in helping children growing up to become human beings who care for one another,” he said.
So, what do you think of the approach to the subject? The campaign is casually demonstrating the idea of boys playing with dolls – instead of presenting it as a social experiment. “We All Can Take Care” is a reminder of how children play without having gender or societal constraints in mind. Instead of pointing out the reasons why boys should play with dolls, the campaign aims to introduce the doll as a key to developing children’s sense of responsibility, empathy and respect.
The Baby Alive “We All Can Take Care” campaign is available on the Baby Alive social media channels.
