This gay couple created a gay Ken wedding set, and Mattel took notice.
Except for Earring Magic Ken, Mattel has been quite conservative with Barbies male counterpart. However, fiancé’s Matt Jacobi and Nick Caprio may have motivated the toy giant to create a same-sex wedding set featuring “gay Ken dolls”. While brainstorming birthday present ideas for their eight-year-old niece, the couple came up with a fabulous idea.
The couple created a custom wedding set featuring two Ken dolls, a Chelsea Roberts doll and a Kelly/Shelly doll. The adorable wedding set is meant to replicate their upcoming wedding, which will feature their nieces, Natalie and her four-year-old sister, Coco, as flower girls.
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In an interview with OUT, Jacobi explained their process: “We thought, why don’t we customize it and do our own thing.” To create the set, they searched various retail stores and found an almost perfect set; it featured two flowers girls, a cake, a groom, and a bride. So, they swapped out the bride with a second Ken doll and viola.
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Jacobi continued, “[Natalie] opened it up and said ‘it looks just like you guys, I love it!”
Although she loved the gift, the couple felt saddened that the concept didn’t already exist. They took to Instagram to voice their disappointment.
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“We had a difficult time finding a same-sex wedding set to give to my niece for her 8th birthday. [She] and her little sister are flower girls in our upcoming May wedding. We thought it would be special to give her something with a little meaning behind it. What a bummer you don’t make one with two grooms. Anyway, we had to get creative and make a couple of purchases. I hope our custom gift inspires you to make a #GayWedding set.”
The post went viral and caught Mattel’s attention. The company reached out via email. “It was a beautiful email, they were super responsive,” says Jacobi. Mattel scheduled a meeting with the couple and their design team to discuss a possible set.
“I’d like them to create a same-sex wedding set to have available for families of all kinds, and create something that’s missing in the marketplace,” Jacobi explains. “It’s about time that Mattel connects with what’s happening in our culture and what’s happening in the world.”
“My nieces only knows that only Uncle Matt loves Uncle Nick and Uncle Nick loves Uncle Matt,” says Jacobi. “Kids are taught to hate; they’re taught to have a negative feeling about those who don’t fit the social norm. It’s time that we bring positive examples into the commercial market; toys are tools for teaching.”
