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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran cracks down on Barbie, plans toys of captured U.S. drone |
| 2012-01-17 |
| Iran’s morality police are cracking down on the sale of Barbie dolls to protect the public from what they see as pernicious western culture eroding Islamic values, shopkeepers said on Monday. As the West imposes the toughest ever sanctions on Iran and tensions rise over its nuclear programme, inside the country the Barbie ban is part of what the government calls a “soft war” against decadent cultural influences. “About three weeks ago they [the morality police] came to our shop, asking us to remove all the Barbies,” said a shopkeeper in a toy shop in northern Tehran. Iran’s religious rulers first declared Barbie, made by U.S. company Mattel Inc, un-Islamic in 1996, citing its “destructive cultural and social consequences”. Despite the ban, the doll has until recently been openly on sale in Tehran shops. The new order, issued around three weeks ago, forced shopkeepers to hide the leggy, busty blonde behind other toys as a way of meeting popular demand for the dolls while avoiding being closed down by the police. A range of officially approved dolls launched in 2002 to counter demand for Barbie have not proven successful, merchants told Reuters. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #3 And included in the box is a picture of them, opening the box. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2012-01-17 15:33 |
| #2 I think they were afraid customers would mistake them for oven mitts. I know how I would market their drone toy. Sell it in a great big box, "So detailed, you don't see the other 99!" |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2012-01-17 15:31 |
| #1 You'd think Mattel would be smart enough to sell a Burqa Barbie. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2012-01-17 12:38 |