This Barbie is the Queen of Christmas.
Barbie and its parent company Mattel have come under fire after releasing a “poorly-timed” advertisement promoting the brand-new Mariah Carey doll mere hours after the doll sold out at official retailers.
The doll, which features Carey’s iconic blonde hair and sparkly red dress from her “All I Want for Christmas” music video, was released to the general public on Friday and immediately snatched up by those looking to make a profit on the highly coveted toy.
Carey’s limited edition doll, which was initially priced at $75 on Mattel’s website, has since reappeared on bidding sites such as eBay or Mercari selling for upward of $100.
Fans of the self-dubbed Queen of Christmas, who were already peeved at the Grinch-like behavior, were further angered when Mattel released an Instagram post promoting the already hard-to-get doll.
“Ring in the season with @MariahCarey x Barbie – a true holiday classic worth singing about for years to come,” the caption of the post reads.
Taking to the post’s comments, several fans were icy toward the company and the ad.
“The scalpers bought her off Amazon, Walmart and Target already and are reselling her at double and triple the price,” another user said scathingly.
“Why even make a social post when she’s sold out everywhere lol,” one user slammed. “Your business practices are terrible. Fire the person coordinating the timing and limits.”
One user, responding to a previous comment, said that despite retailers knowing that the doll has sold out, they will still promote the toy as it will help boost their profit.
“The retailers know it and yet advertise knowing the doll has sold out,” the user sneered. “It will pop up on Amazon selling at an unreasonable price point. Greed.”
“Sad that it’s no longer available for Mariah fans. Greedy people are reselling,” a fourth fan lamented.
The Post reached out to Mattel for comment.
This is not the first time that Barbie has fallen victim to those wishing to make a little extra cash.
In October, the doll company released a limited edition doll of famed rock ‘n’ roll icon Tina Turner for $55 that was immediately sold out and later resold at an inflated price.
Turner’s Barbie features the late Rock & Roll Hall of Famer in the black leather minidress, jean jacket, sheer black tights, heels and outrageous ’80s hairstyle that she wore during her “What’s Love Got to Do With It” music video.
After the release, designer Bill Greening said in a statement that he and his team “used a lot of screen grabs to see the hair at all angles.”
Greening added that “lots of teasing and hairspray was involved.”
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