Mattel Victim of Daryl Hannah’s ‘EcoWarrior’ Barbie Hoax, Including Fake Pledge to Stop Using Plastic

Climate activists trolled Mattel and Barbie this week by creating a fake Mattel corporate website, as well as a fake press release claiming the company plans to stop using plastic to create its toys.

On Tuesday (Aug. 1), pranksters launched a realistic-looking Mattel corporate website, which included a press release claiming that the company plans to go plastic-free by 2030.

The hoax also included a second press release announcing a line of de-composable Barbie dolls highlighting EcoActivists, some of whom are deceased. The fake doll line is called the "EcoWarrior Casualty Collection."

Scroll down to the bottom to see photos of the fake products.

"Families that were killed together will be released simultaneously as a set. Each activist will be immortalized using stylishly authentic clothes and accessories that are both reflective of their passion and fun to play with in combination with the original MyCelia collection," the fake website states.

The fake line of "MyCelia EcoWarrior Barbies" includes dolls representing environmental activists such as Greta Thunberg and actress Daryl Hannah.

Some of the fake campaign's supposed "press photos" include activists being arrested by police.

According to the hoax website:

The MyCelia dolls, made of mushroom mycelium, algae, seaweed, clays, wood cellulose, and bamboo, are designed to decompose entirely, unlike plastic dolls of the past. The expanding line also honors activists arrested or killed while committing daring acts of environmental defense.

 

The company hopes that this shift will ripple across the industry and create meaningful change, unlike previous commitments. Mattel also intends the MyCelia collection to help compensate for both the surge in plastic sales generated by the success of Barbie the Movie, and for earlier flaccid attempts to address the plastic crisis, like the 'Barbie Eco-Leadership Team' that has misled consumers into believing that recycling is a feasible solution to an outsized pollution problem.

According to Yahoo!, political pranksters the Yes Men, real names Igor Vamos and Jacques Servin, created the elaborate hoax alongside Hannah, who stars in a fake EcoWarrior Barbie commercial and also participated in a fake press conference for the campaign.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story mistakenly featured quotes from a fake Mattel press release. They have been removed. We regret the error.