Mexico to Mattel: You can't sell the Frida Kahlo Barbie doll here
Mattel's new Frida Kahlo Barbie doll has raised a ruckus since it went on sale in March.
Distant family members of the famous Mexican artist charged that Mattel didn't have the legal right to use her image.
They and other critics slammed the collectible doll for not having Kahlo's famous unibrow. They thought her skin and eye coloring were too light for a Mexican woman. They didn't like her costume, either — not elaborate enough, they griped.
Even Mexican actress Salma Hayek, who played Kahlo in the 2002 biopic, "Frida," wasn't a fan, giving the doll two thumbs down.
Things got worse for Mattel on Thursday when a Mexican court banned the sale of the doll in Kahlo's native country.
According to the temporary injunction, Mattel and department stores in Mexico must stop selling the doll until the issue over usage rights is resolved.
The judge's decision is effective immediately but Mattel can appeal it, reported Le Figaro newspaper, which noted Mattel has not yet commented on the decision.
This is a win for those distant relatives of Kahlo, considered one of the greatest painters of the 20th century.
Her great-niece, Mara de Anda Romeo, argued in Mexican court that Mattel does not have the right to use Kahlo's image.
"I am delighted because I believe that justice has been done: we are the Kahlo family who hold the rights for all these things," she told Agence France-Presse.
She said the case isn't just a dispute over rights. She wants the doll redesigned to more accurately reflect who her aunt was.
“It should have been a much more Mexican doll, with darker skin, a unibrow, not so thin because Frida was not that thin … dressed in more Mexican clothing, with Mexican jewelry," she told AFP.
When the doll came out, Mattel said in a statement that it worked with the Florida-based Frida Kahlo Corp., “which owns all the rights."
The toymaker said it secured rights to the painter's image more than a decade ago through another Kahlo niece, Isolda Pinedo Kahlo, The Guardian reported.
Though the corporation was founded by Kahlo family members, the company and Casablanca Distributors did not tell all relatives how Kahlo's image would be used, said de Anda Romeo's lawyer, Pablo Sangri.
With her unibrow, thick braids and embroidered Mexican dresses, Kahlo has become a pop icon. In recent years, her image has popped up on everything from shoes and coffee mugs to tequila.
The doll was one of three Barbies based on historical "Inspiring Women" released for International Women's Day in March.
The other two dolls were famous Kansas aviator Amelia Earhart and Katherine Johnson, the NASA mathematician whose work was spotlighted in the 2016 movie, "Hidden Figures."
Kahlo's family plans to start legal proceedings to ban sales in the United States, too, Sangri told AFP.
The Kahlo Barbie, which sells for $29.99, is currently sold out on Mattel's website.
This story was originally published April 20, 2018 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Mexico to Mattel: You can't sell the Frida Kahlo Barbie doll here."