By Karina Masolova
2016 promises to be bigger than ever for licensed toys and games. Category sales reached almost $7 billion in 2014, according to TLL’s Annual Licensing Business Survey, and are expected to grow this year. But amidst soaring success, girls’ toys have been seeing slumping sales, with giants such as Mattel and Hasbro reporting declines. To counter this, the licensing industry is stepping up with more intelligently designed girls’ SKUs, toys that bridge the gender gap, modified retail strategies and entertainment properties with strong female characters.
One possible reason for falling sales? Stereotypes that “in essence make all girls’ toys a preschool category,” according to Richard Gottlieb, CEO of Global Toy Experts, who points at the proliferation of infantilized product and gendered marketing that puts girls off of otherwise gender-neutral toys. Another factor is the fact that media properties which are enjoyed by both genders on the screen often become simplified into either boys’ or girls’ brands in toy aisles—with the risk of alienating boys as well as girls in merchandising. These hyper-focused tactics can add up to lost licensing profits. And while the focus here is toys, this can apply to all gender-segregated categories—from bedding, to apparel, to toothbrushes.
No one in the industry is actively biased against girls. All retailers, licensees and licensors who were consulted for this story were clear that they would not ignore a real sales opportunity. Indeed, capitalism is the great equalizer. But the problem lies in the fact that sometimes licensed products are marketed and designed in limiting ways through unconscious assumptions about children’s play patterns and conservative industry habits. Since the 1990’s toys, selling toys along narrow demographic lines worked. Critics argue that the issue is circular—girls don’t buy action figures for example, because they aren’t marketed to them and not because they aren’t interested in playing with them. Today, as social attitudes towards gender identity are shifting and greater consumer backlash against the perceived bias against girls mounts, the licensing industry is working to shift gears.
Mounting Awareness
The hyper-gendering of toys is particularly troubling for entertainment/character properties, where toys and games make up the largest share of licensed products—30.8% in 2014. The largest film properties in licensing right now—Frozen, Jurassic World, Minions, Star Wars: The Force Awakens—all pass the Bechdel Test for gender parity and enjoy a broad fan base.
But licensor’s efforts to include women and girls will not help royalty revenues if manufacturers do not make products featuring them. The most recent example: Disney’s record-breaking Star Wars: The Force Awakens sparked a campaign criticizing the omission of female lead Rey from merchandise. Some blame in this case can be shifted to Disney’s veil of secrecy, as most merchandise singled out was released for Force Friday—“This new wave of product has got key elements from the film … we wanted to hold back until the film had been released,” Paul Southern, Head Lucasfilm Licensing, told EW. He continued, “The timing is good to try to address some of the social discussion that has been created through the ‘Where’s Rey?’ movement.” Indeed. If Princess Leia figures couldn’t sell in the 1980’s, now demand for Rey is outpacing stock.
Much of consumer outrage is centered on properties that have universal appeal, but whose merchandise is marketed to one gender. Jurassic World is another box-office leader that caught flack for marginalizing the girls’ market, with product lines aimed at boys despite the fact that nearly half of the audience for the opening weekend were women. In one example, Hasbro erroneously identified the gender of its dinosaur action figures as male. At the same time, Black Widow was notably absent from Avengers: Age of Ultron merchandise.
Let Toys Be Toys, a U.K. grassroots campaign group, tracks other examples as they are reported on social media (with Marvel’s Avengers and Paw Patrol trending at the time of writing). Campaigner Jess Day notes that although viewing figures for BBC children’s shows fall equally along gender lines, a property or “character which is loved by boys and girls alike is suddenly a ‘girl’ or ‘boy’ property once you hit the toy shelves.”
Traditional targets of watch groups, such as LEGO’s Friends line and Mattel’s Barbie, are seeing rising profits after research led them to create smarter toys lines for girls with more complex components comparable to boys’ toys. Pink sells, but it seems to sell better when it’s not dumbed down.
Upcoming Entertainment/Character Properties
Of the 125 upcoming movies through 2020 identified by TLL with potential for licensing, almost 40 are confirmed to have female leads. The list includes films whose merchandise is traditionally girl-oriented like Hello Kitty and Monster High, as well as male-skewing franchises that are bringing empowered women characters into the spotlight such as Wonder Woman from DC Comics, Ghostbusters and Star Wars. The latter in particular are ripe opportunities for bringing sales in from the girls’ market.
And over 2016–17, four girls’ TV series will launch, including “DC Super Hero Girls” and “Mysticons,” that feature empowered girls.
Film | Release Date | Licensor | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Alice Through the Looking Glass | 5/27/16 | Walt Disney Studios | Johnny Depp and Mia Wasikowska reprise their roles in the sequel to 2010’s Alice in Wonderland. Tim Burton again directs. |
Finding Dory | 6/17/16 | Walt Disney Studios | Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres reprise their voicing roles in Finding Nemo sequel. Licensees for the original film include Zak Designs, Random House. |
The BFG | 7/1/16 | Walt Disney Studios | Steven Spielberg helms this adaptation of the Roald Dahl book about a young girl on an adventure with a benevolent giant. |
Ghostbusters | 7/15/16 | Sony | Sony will be putting much of its focus on Ghostbusters, with licensing for the Melissa McCarthy vehicle overlapping resurgent interest in the classic Ghostbusters property, which celebrated 30 years in 2014. |
Suicide Squad | 8/5/16 | Warner Bros. | In this DC Comics property, a group of supervillains is recruited for duties deemed too dangerous for superheroes. Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto and Jesse Eisenberg are part of the squad. |
Bridget Jones’s Baby | 9/16/16 | Universal Pictures | Renee Zellweger once again plays Bridget, this time in her 40s and attemting to have a baby before it’s too late. |
Monster High | 10/7/16 | Universal Pictures | Based on the Mattel toy line, children of famous monsters experience high school in this live action musical. |
Trolls | 11/4/16 | DreamWorks Animation | Animated film based on the classic dolls tells the stories of how the Trolls came into their colorful hair. |
Moana | 11/23/16 | Walt Disney Studios | A bold teenage girl travels through the ancient South Pacific world of Oceania. |
Star Wars: Rogue One | 12/16/16 | Walt Disney Studios | The first Star Wars “anthology film” (aka spinoff), Rogue One is set between Episodes III and IV. Directed by Gareth Edwards. |
Power Rangers | 1/13/17 | Lionsgate | A group of high school kids harness their superpowers to save the world in the newest take on this Saban brand. |
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter | 1/27/17 | Sony Screen Gems | Humanity is on its last legs in Alice’s (Milla Jovovich) most difficult adventure. |
Fifty Shades Darker | 2/10/17 | Universal Pictures | Sequel to bondage blockbuster Fifty Shades of Grey, based on the E.L. James novels. Officially licensed goods for the first film included adult toys from Lovehoney. |
Beauty and the Beast | 3/17/17 | Walt Disney Studios | Another live-action Disney adaptation of its own animated film. Emma Watson plays Belle. |
The Divergent Series: Ascendant | 3/24/17 | Lionsgate | Fourth and final film in The Divergent Series. Shailene Woodley and Theo James star. |
Ghost in the Shell | 3/31/17 | Walt Disney Studios | Scarlett Johansson stars in this adaptation of the Japanese comic and anime films about a member of a covert ops unit that fights technology related crime. |
Get Smurfy | 3/31/17 | Sony Pictures | Mandy Pantinkin voices Papa Smurf in this all-animated film focusing on the origins of the Smurfs. |
Star Wars: Episode VIII | 5/26/17 | Walt Disney Studios | Picks up where 2015’s Episode VII: The Force Awakens leaves off. Second film in Disney’s new Star Wars sequel series since acquiring Lucasfilm. |
Barbie | 6/2/17 | Sony Pictures | Live-action film based on the toy line. Screenplay by Diablo Cody. |
The Fantastic Four 2 | 6/9/17 | 20th Century Fox | Sequel to Fox’s 2015 reboot of the Fantastic Four series. |
Wonder Woman | 6/23/17 | Warner Bros. | An Amazon princess becomes the greatest of DC superheroines. |
Pitch Perfect 3 | 8/4/17 | Universal Pictures | Another a capella adventure. |
Justice League: Part 1 | 11/17/17 | Warner Bros. | The DC gang’s all here in this story focused on the original incarnation of the Justice League: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash and Green Lantern. |
The Croods 2 | 12/22/17 | DreamWorks Animation | Sequel to the 2013 caveman hit. |
Avatar 2 | Dec. 2017 | 20th Century Fox | Sequel to the highest grossing film of all time, expected to focus on filmmaker James Cameron’s in-depth look into Pandora’s oceans. |
My Little Pony | TBA 2017 | Allspark Pictures/Lionsgate | Animated film for Hasbro’s $1 billion toy-based brand, from the creators of the TV series. |
Fifty Shades Freed | 2/9/18 | Universal | Third installment in the Fifty Shades trilogy details the couple’s life after marriage. |
Avengers: Infinity War (Part 1) | 5/4/18 | Walt Disney Studios | This time the Avengers face the menace of Thanos. |
Captain Marvel | 3/8/19 | Walt Disney Studios | Marvel’s first female superhero movie follows Captain Marvel, aka Carol Danvers, who can fly and shoot energy bursts from her hands. |
Avengers: Infinity War (Part 2) | 5/3/19 | Walt Disney Studios | Second half of the third Avengers film. |
Justice League: Part 2 | 6/14/19 | Walt Disney Studios | Sequel follows the DC Comics-based superhero team. |
Incredibles 2 | 6/21/19 | Walt Disney Studios | Writer/director Brad Bird’s sequel to 2004’s The Incredibles. |
Inhumans | 7/12/19 | Walt Disney Studios | In this Marvel film, an isolated community of superhumans fight to protect themselves. |
Inhumans | 7/12/19 | Walt Disney Studios | In this Marvel film, an isolated community of superhumans fight to protect themselves. |
Bad Boys 4 | 7/3/19 | Sony Pictures | Follows 2017’s Bad Boys 3. |
Avatar 4 | Dec. 2019 | 20th Century Fox | Third sequel to the highest grossing film of all time. |
Star Wars: Episode IX | TBA 2019 | Walt Disney Studios | Final chapter of the newest Star Wars trilogy. |
Hello Kitty | TBA 2019 | Sanrio | Cartoon feline feature film. |
Cyborg | 4/3/20 | Warner Bros. | Cyborg, aka Victor Stone, is a member of the Justice League. |
Shifts in Retail
Retailers are beginning to grouping products by type rather than gender. Let Toys Be Toys recorded a 60% drop in gendered signage in U.K. toy stores over 2013–14. So far fourteen retailers, including Toys ‘R’ Us and Tesco, have pledged to drop the distinction between boys’ and girls’ toys in aisles. In follow ups, the campaign group notes that “organising stores and websites by genre instead of gender has done no harm to anyone’s retail success.” Stateside, retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target and Toys ‘R’ Us are beginning to do the same.
And now that brick and mortar stores are reducing their footprint and the fight for shelf space gets more cutthroat, placing boys’ and girls’ products together in the same aisle—and selling to both—might make more fiscal sense.