The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood has given Barbie Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader its first TOADY Award (Toys Oppressive And Destructive to Young Children) for worst toy of the year for 2008.  The group attacked the gender stereotypes and challenged the age appropriateness of a toy that Mattel rated for those six and up. 

CCFC co-founder Dr. Diane Levin laid out the argument.  “The Barbie Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Doll teaches girls to focus on their appearance, to aspire to an eating-disordered body, and to play at being sexy before they’re even capable of understanding what sexy means,” she said in the group’s statement. 

Barbie Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader was selected from a group of five nominees by an online vote of over 6,000 CCFC members.  In addition to Smart Cycle (a videogame with stationary trike), Power Wheels Escalade, and Baby Alive Learns to Potty, Batman Lego Videogame came in for attention for promoting a movie directed at older viewers to younger kids and for replacing construction play with a videogame. 

The CCFC has been active in attacking movie promotions that target kids younger than the target age of the film, for example Iron Man (see “Advocacy Group Takes on Iron Man Promo”) and Transformers (see “Advocacy Group Targets Transformers”).