EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Environmentalists have launched a global campaign against Mattel, the world’s largest toy company, as part of a decade-long effort to force multinational corporations to purge their operations of any links to rain-forest destruction.
On Tuesday, Greenpeace activists in turquoise vests rappelled down the face of the company’s 15-story headquarters near Los Angeles International Airport and hung a giant banner depicting a frowning Ken doll with the message: “Barbie: it’s over. I don’t date girls that are into deforestation.”
El Segundo police arrested 10 protesters, including a woman dressed as Barbie in pink and blue Spandex who was driving a bright pink skip loader a half-block from the scene. As firetrucks arrived, Mattel employees crowded around windows, taking photos with their cellphones.
Greenpeace is accusing Mattel of packaging Barbie and other toys with paper from hardwoods taken from Indonesian rain forests, a haven for some of Earth’s most endangered species, including orangutans, tigers, elephants and leopards.
The rapid destruction of the archipelago’s vast forests, scientists say, is a significant cause of global climate change.
The theatrics were window dressing for what promises to be an all-out assault on one of the nation’s best-known brands as it gears up for a sales campaign centered on a reunion between its Barbie and Ken dolls.
“Barbie’s dirty secret is that her packaging is made from the rain forests of Indonesia,” said Rolf Skar, senior forest campaigner for Greenpeace USA. “Mattel has shown no due diligence. It buys paper without asking where it’s coming from.”
