Prince William and the former Kate Middleton are being turned into Barbie dolls, but not everyone is jolly about Mattel's decision to market a plastic version of this seemingly perfect pair.
"Just when you think every bit of merchandising had been sucked out of the Royal Wedding, here come the Will and Kate, Ken and Barbie," bemoaned a blogger for Style Quirk.
Dressed in a facsimile of the real couple's wedding duds, the dolls will be on sale in time to commemorate the one-year anniversary of a marriage that has already lasted four times longer than later-weds Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries.
But do the "achievements" of randomly being born royal or poaching a prince make one worthy of being immortalized in plastic?
And aren't all the Will and Kate ash trays, coffee mugs and bobbleheads enough already?
Not when there's a buck to be made. Mattel will be selling the doll set in Britain and later in the U.S. for about $155.
Most of the figurines sold will likely remain in their boxes forever since they are considered collectables. But a few little girls will spring them loose and re-enact the royal wedding in the comfort of their frilly pink bedrooms.
The idea of young girls play-acting the rags-to-riches wedding of a humble commoner leaves some critics pining for more ambitious role models for impressionable women-to-be. According to blogger Laurie Penny, the "cult of Kate Middleton" is a step backwards that makes little girls pine to be princesses instead of presidents or even tree pruners. "Fake tiaras and fashion handbooks play into the collective fantasy that one day, if you are beautiful and good enough, you too can marry a prince," she wrote shortly after the royal wedding last spring.
Royal bashers have also had their fill of the Will-and-Kate craze pervading both sides of the pond, with one cynic suggesting the dolls should replace the real royals. "Duke & Duchess of Cambridge turned into Barbie dolls. Future for monarchy: make them into dolls & royalists can buy them. #republicnow," tweeted columnist Joan Smith.
But perhaps the most common critique of the plastic pair relates to their physical appearance. Will has too much hair and Kate looks too pretty, complained a Daily Mail reader. "Williams doll has no receding hairline whilst Kate's doll looks nothing like her because it does not include her elongated chin, turkey neck, high forehead or mannish looking cheekbones," jabbed Jane from London.
It should not be surprising that the Ken and Barbie versions of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would be idealized images of a couple whose reality has more to do with the fantasies of those who follow the royal pair than a reflection of who they really are.
Whether the new Wills and Kate Barbie dolls is a bad thing for society is a question for pop culture critics, but one thing is certain: fans will have a field day snapping them up, and Mattel will pocket a princely sum.
More From This Contributor:
What's Behind the Rumors of Kate and Camilla's Catfight?
Are Kim Kardashian and Kate Middleton the 'Goofus and Gallant' of Female Celebrities?
Princess Diana: First Real-Life Fairytale Princess
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