Barbieland: The Unauthorized History | 誠品線上

Barbieland: The Unauthorized History

內容簡介

內容簡介 「一段充滿狂歡氣息的故事，講述美泰（Mattel）如何透過監視、抄襲與竊取一步步建立市場霸權，並以近乎軍事等級的強硬手段，迫使我們不斷掏錢購買更多商品。」——《紐約時報》芭比的祕密歷史，以及美泰如何不擇手段讓她始終站在巔峰。近七十年來，美泰將芭比塑造成「第一個成人娃娃」——一種劃時代的創新，徹底顛覆過去只把小女孩視為未來母親的嬰兒娃娃，轉而將她們想像為未來的女性。然而，芭比並非原創。她其實是一個仿製品——幾乎完全複製自一款德國娃娃，而那段歷史早已被抹去，取而代之的是美泰精心打造的官方敘事。這是芭比的第一個祕密，卻遠非最後一個。在《Barbieland》中，記者、《The Drift》編輯塔普利・希特（Tarpley Hitt）揭開了這個世界上最著名娃娃長期被掩蓋的真實背景。在消滅前身之後，芭比登上全球「女孩王國」的王座，並長期穩坐其上——她以策略性行銷、政府影響力、冷酷無情的法律戰，以及宛如間諜小說般的隱密手段，擊退一個又一個競爭者。這趟節奏明快、權威十足的旅程，帶領讀者深入美國企業世界的陰暗角落，揭示塑造芭比帝國的企業巨頭、文化操盤手與玩具業對手——從充滿缺陷的創辦人露絲・漢德勒（Ruth Handler），到因華爾街詐欺案入獄、卻意外成為芭比救世主的麥可・米爾肯（Michael Milken），再到曾讓芭比品牌命懸一線的 Bratz 娃娃帝國。在書中，希特也細緻描寫那些憑藉強大意志將芭比帶到世上的怪傑與專制者：兩名曾為納粹效力的玩具製造商、一位與 FBI 局長胡佛（J. Edgar Hoover）交情匪淺的玩具大亨、一名作風放蕩的飛彈設計師轉任芭比高層、並與莎莎・嘉寶（Zsa Zsa Gabor）結婚，以及一位深受佛洛伊德影響的美泰行銷奇才——他將芭比視為操控美國集體心靈的心理性「萬用鑰匙」。透過調查報導、全球檔案研究，以及對「芭比宇宙」關鍵人物的深度訪談，《Barbieland》徹底揭露那些鮮為人知、甚至荒謬離奇的運作機制——正是這些機制，讓美泰成為數十億美元規模的企業，也將芭比打造為一個制度化的存在：如同可口可樂與麥當勞薯條一般，成為美國軟實力最具代表性的象徵之一。"A rollicking tale of how Mattel spied, copied, and stole its way to market dominance, then fought with military intensity to compel us to buy more and more." —The New York TimesThe secret history of Barbie and what Mattel has done to keep her on top.For nearly seven decades, Mattel billed Barbie as the first adult doll—a revolutionary alternative to the baby dolls before her, which had treated little girls as future mothers rather than future women. But Barbie was no original. She was a knockoff: a nearly identical copy of a German doll now erased from the narrative in favor of Mattel’s preferred version of history. It was Barbie’s first secret but far from her last.In Barbieland, journalist and The Drift editor Tarpley Hitt exposes the long-hidden backstory of the world’s most famous doll. After snuffing out her predecessor, Barbie climbed to the throne of global girlhood and stayed there, fending off rivals with a mix of strategic marketing, government influence, ruthless litigation, and covert tactics worthy of a classic spy novel.This lively, authoritative ride through the underbelly of American business pulls back the curtain on the corporate titans, cultural influencers, and toyland rivals who shaped this icon’s world—from flawed founder Ruth Handler to convicted Wall Street fraudster (and improbable Barbie savior) Michael Milken to the Bratz doll empire, which once put the brand on life support.Along the way, Hitt delves into the stories of the eccentrics and autocrats who brought Barbie to life through sheer force of will: a pair of ex-Nazi toymakers, a toy mogul friend of J. Edgar Hoover’s, a swinging missile designer turned Barbie executive married to Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Mattel’s mid-century Freudian marketeer, who saw the doll as a psychosexual skeleton key to controlling the American mind.Through investigative reporting, global archival research, and interviews with key players from across the Barbie extended universe, Barbieland lays bare the unseen—and so often absurd—work that made Mattel a multibillion-dollar business and turned Barbie into an institution: a symbol as synonymous with American soft power as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s french fries.

作者介紹

作者介紹 Tarpley Hitt is a journalist in New York and an editor at The Drift magazine. She previously reported on culture and money for Gawker and The Daily Beast, and her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Nation, The New York Times, Bookforum, The Paris Review, The Guardian, Air Mail, Deseret, and Miami New Times. Barbieland is her first book.

商品規格

最佳賣點

最佳賣點 : 揭開芭比帝國的祕密戰爭與權力真相