Barbie first hit the doll scene way back in 1959 making her exactly 50 years old on March 9th. Whether you love her or hate her (whilst still secretly loving her!) there’s no denying that without Barbie’s introduction to the market by Mattel there wouldn’t be the amazing array of fashion dolls we have today particularly those aimed at the adult market. Or perhaps we would have more if the Barbie sales juggernaut hadn’t come along and squashed pretty much every rival to come in her way. Even the Bratz girls may have to bow to her power (or rather the power of her legal team) in the wake of the recent courtroom wrangling.

In order to celebrate the big occasion Mattel are going all out with a large online presense including a dedicated website, her own blog a Twitter page and even her own Facebook page. All this plus an array of events to celebrate the big day and an unprecedented add campaign. Just no one mention those recently dose-diving sales figures!