Barbie creates doll of Las Vegas doctor
As a Las Vegas medical physician, wellness advocate and lifestyle blogger, Dr. Audrey Sue Cruz is a lot of things.
Now, she is also a Barbie doll.
Mattel added six new Barbie dolls to its lineup, each modeled after “modern real life heroes of the pandemic.”
The doll created in the likeness of Dr. Cruz is now available at Target, with five dollars of each purchase benefitting the First Responders Children’s Foundation.
During the pandemic, Cruz worked in both hospital and clinic settings as a frontline worker.
The Las Vegas physician also wrote about her life as a doctor and posted wellness content and collaborated with other Asian-American physicians to create a viral video accompanied by the hashtag #IAmNotAVirus.
“I’m so incredibly honored to be a Barbie Role Model, shining a light on the commitment and compassion all frontline workers exhibited over the past year and a half,” says Cruz. “Kids imagine they can be anything but actually seeing that they can, and hearing the brave stories of others, makes all the difference.”
The other five dolls are modeled after Dr. Chika Stacy Oriuwa from Canada, Professor Sarah Gilbert from the U.K., Dr. Jaqueline Goes de Jesus from Brazil, Dr. Kirby White from Australia and Nurse Amy O’Sullivan from New York.
“Barbie recognizes that all frontline workers have made tremendous sacrifices when confronting the pandemic and the challenges it heightened,” said Lisa McKnight, senior vice president and global head of Barbie & Dolls, Mattel. “To shine a light on their efforts, we are sharing their stories and leveraging Barbie’s platform to inspire the next generation to take after these heroes and give back.”
Contact Janna Karel at jkarel@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jannainprogress on Twitter.