Fulla

Moral decay is happening all around us. We witness it on a daily basis. Our children need toys that deflect the worldliness and greed. For two weeks I've been preparing a blog entry about a doll that has taken the Middle East by storm: Fulla! The creators of Fulla have recognized the need children have for toys of good character: "...Our advertising is full of positive messages about Fulla's character. She's honest, loving, and caring, and she respects her father and mother." With black hair, auburn eyes and a wide selection of head scarves, she's Mecca to Barbie's Malibu. In the Fulla television ads I've seen on satellite, the doll has a sweet high-pitched voice, and sings in Arabic. She is also shown baking a cake for her friend, praying and reading before bed. Fulla is the direct opposite of that greedy fashion-conscious Barbie! A little envy here, as I wish the Fulla-type doll was marketed and embraced here in America.

I found Fulla and other items of interest on e-Bay (HERE)...

The NY Times has apparently just gotten wind of two original news articles about Fulla, both of which appeared in the St. Petersburg Times Floridian, where I first learned about Fulla early last year. The following is derived from both sources:

DAMASCUS, Syria, Sept. 21 - In the last year or so, Barbie dolls have all but disappeared from the shelves of many toy stores in the Middle East. In their place, there is Fulla, a dark-eyed doll with, as her creator puts it, "Muslim values."

Fulla's creator, NewBoy Design Studio, based in Syria, introduced her in November 2003, and she has quickly become a best seller all over the region. It is nearly impossible to walk into a corner shop in Syria or Egypt or Jordan or Qatar without encountering Fulla breakfast cereal or Fulla chewing gum or not to see little girls pedaling down the street on their Fulla bicycles, all in trademark "Fulla pink."

Fulla is 11-1/2 inches tall, like Barbie, and has long black hair with dramatic burgundy streaks. But her look is more demure - a few mascaraed lashes frame big brown eyes and a hint of fuchsia tints her dainty mouth.

Young girls here are obsessed with Fulla, and conservative parents who would not dream of buying Barbies for their daughters seem happy to pay for a modest doll who has her own tiny prayer rug, in pink felt. Children who want to dress like their dolls can buy a matching, girl-size prayer rug and cotton scarf set, all in pink.

Fawaz Abidin, the Fulla brand manager for NewBoy, tells the newspaper "This isn't just about putting the hijab on a Barbie doll, You have to create a character that parents and children will want to relate to."

Though Fulla will never have a boyfriend doll like Barbie's Ken, Mr. Abidin said, a Doctor Fulla and a Teacher Fulla will be introduced soon. "These are two respected careers for women that we would like to encourage small girls to follow," he said.

On the children's satellite channels popular in the Arab world, Fulla advertising is incessant. In a series of animated commercials, a sweetly high-pitched voice sings the Fulla song in Arabic ("She will soon be by my side, and I can tell her my deepest secrets") as a cartoon Fulla glides across the screen, saying her prayers as the sun rises, baking a cake to surprise her friend Yasmeen, or reading a book at bedtime - scenes that, Mr. Abidin said, are "designed to convey Fulla's values."

A series of commercials seems more familiarly sales-oriented, starring young Syrian actresses who present Fulla silverware, Fulla stationery, Fulla luggage and, of course, new accessories for Fulla herself. "When you take Fulla out of the house, don't forget her new spring abaya!" says one commercial.

In Damascus, a Fulla doll sells for about $16, in a country where average per capita income hovers around $100 per month. And yet, said Nawal al-Sayeedi, a clerk at the Space Toon toy store in the city's upscale Abou Roumaneh neighborhood, Fulla flies off the shelves.

When Iman Telmaz took her two young daughters back-to-school shopping recently, disaster struck. Ms. Telmaz had promised the girls, 10-year-old Alia and 5-year-old Aya, new pink Fulla backpacks for the start of the school year, and the stores were sold out.

Ms. Telmaz resolved to keep looking. "The children love their Fulla dolls," she said. "Aya is starting school for the first time, and has specially asked for a Fulla backpack. For these girls, it has to be Fulla."

It has to be FULLA for bloggers, too--- several have had knee-jerk reactions to the NY Times piece. Most are very mean-spirited or make fun of the dolls. No wonder many of the good Muslim people have stopped speaking out in their own defense!

RELATED: A young girl's response to anti-Islamic sentiment...

9/24/05 - Outside The Beltway is having a TRACKBACK party!

9/24/05 - Cao's Blog is having a TRACKBACK party!


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