Packaging for the doll is produced using timber from the rainforests of Indonesia, home to endangered species such as the Sumatran tiger.
At 9am (Pacific) this morning activists dressed as ‘Ken’ dolls rappelled down parent company Mattel’s HQ in Los Angeles with a giant 2,500 square foot banner which reads:
“Barbie: It’s Over. I Don’t Date Girls That Are Into Deforestation”.
A glossy pink bulldozer driven by a defiant, spandex wearing Barbie is circling nearby, carrying copies of the Greenpeace evidence to Mattel’s 1,500 Los Angeles employees.
Rolf Skar, senior forest campaigner for Greenpeace USA is on the scene. He commented:
“Unwrap the glossy pink box and you’ll find Barbie’s dirty secret. Her packaging is made from the rainforests of Indonesia which are being ripped down for quick profits so fast there soon will be nothing left to protect.
“The Sumatran tiger is on the brink of extinction because companies like Mattel are looking the other way and buying paper without asking where it’s coming from.”
“It’s time they stopped living in fantasy land and realized that parents don’t want to buy toys wrapped in rainforest destruction.”
Greenpeace investigators used forensic testing to reveal that Barbie’s packaging comes from the Indonesian rainforests. They also used a combination of ‘in country’ investigation, mapping data and traced company certificates to show that Mattel, the makers of Barbie, are using packaging from Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).
APP has been exposed many times for wrecking Indonesia’s rainforests to make products such as packaging.
The activities in Los Angeles mark the start of a worldwide Greenpeace campaign to stop toy companies driving deforestation in Indonesia.
A new video animation showing the moment ‘Ken’ discovers the news is being translated into 18 languages including Chinese, Bahasa and Swedish can be viewed at:
https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/the-breakup
Indonesia has one of the fastest rates of forest destruction in the world. The Indonesian government estimates that more than two and a half million acres of rainforest are being cleared every year.
ENDS
A full dossier outlining the role of APP and Barbie in rainforest destruction is available here:
http://www.greenpeace.org/sinar-mas-under-investigation
Greenpeace pictures from the scene at the Mattel HQ in Los Angeles can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenpeaceusa09/sets/72157626868558580/
B-Roll of Indonesian rainforests is available at: comms.greenpeaceusa.org/20110607_Mattel
(This is an ftp link. Right click on video file to begin download (this is not a streaming video link). For a youtube preview visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbZToqaxP8A
Video will be uploaded throughout the day at this address.
Contacts:
Greenpeace Media Hotline: 202-640-3471
