Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2014 Model Is Barbie; “Unapologetic” Barbie To Pay Tribute To Legends. Yay Or Nay?
Sports Illustrated has featured a lot of ladies on their Swimsuit Edition, all of them hot and sizzling. From Cindy Crawford to Beyonce Knowles, Tyra Banks to Elsa Benitez, Heidi Klum to Bar Raefeli, SI served as a platform for featuring beautiful faces of people who rocked the entertainment scene over the past years.
For its February issue, SI will feature someone who has been in the business for more than 50 years. She aged really well, don't have wrinkles, and have maintained her great curves despite the long years. That someone is no other than Barbie. Yes, you read that right, Barbie, the fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel.
On Monday, Sports Illustrated announced that Barbie will be the magazine's cover girl in their 50th anniversary, something that no SI Swimsuit Edition follower expected. According to the magazine, the cover photo, which was shot by longtime SI photographer Walter Iooss Jr, is the company's way of paying tribute to SI "legends." Barbie is dressed in multiple ways, with the bikinis and make up patterned from other models who graced the SI mag cover.
"Barbie is a legend in her own right, with more than 150 careers and a brand valued at $3 billion," a Mattel spokeswoman said, according to Ad Age.
"She is in great company with the other legends such as Heidi Klum and Christie Brinkley, to name a few. As a legend herself, and under criticism about her body and how she looks, posing in 'Sports Illustrated Swimsuit' gives Barbie and her fellow legends an opportunity to own who they are, celebrate what they have done, and be unapologetic," the spokeswoman added.
According to Ad Week, Mattel also shared that they are working on "an advertorial component around Barbie's new "#unapologetic" campaign, which celebrates Barbie's (sometimes divisive) role in society."
"As with Barbie, every year the Swimsuit edition sparks conversations about women and body image, and Sports Illustrated stands unapologetically behind this issue that women, in reality, love," a Mattel spokesperson told Adweek.
"Unapologetic is a rally cry to embrace who you are and to never have to apologize for it."