This week, a new ad for "Moschino Barbie" has been making the rounds all over the web.
GIFs via Moschino/YouTube.
At first glance, it may seem like any other Barbie ad.
Upbeat music? Check. Excited kids? Check. Flashes of Barbie, looking nothing less than runway-ready? Check.
But this Barbie ad is different in one actually amazing way.
There's a boy in it!
For the first time ever, a boy appears in an ad for the iconic kids' toy. Seriously — the very first time ... ever!
The ad — promoting a new doll in partnership with the Moschino fashion brand — is getting quite a bit of attention from across the Internet (like here, and here, and here), and it seems most are applauding the move by Mattel.
Because, when you think about it ... why wouldn't a boy like to play with a Barbie doll?
The idea of gendered toys has been big news in recent months.
In August, Target kicked gender references in its toy sections to the curb because, as the retail giant explained, "suggesting [some] products by gender is unnecessary."
"How we all shopped five years ago or 10 years ago looks different to how we shop today," Molly Snyder, a spokesperson for Target, told Upworthy in August. And today, parents are generally less concerned if their boy likes the color pink or if their girl likes playing with race cars.
Photo by Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images.
While certainly not everyone is a fan of retailers going gender-neutral when it comes to toys, the topic is hitting a high note with many parents. Remember when the Internet rallied behind this dad's decision to celebrate his son's wanting a mermaid doll for his birthday?
Barbie deserves a high-five for helping push the issue forward in a positive direction.
Admittedly, there are many reasons to take issue with the Barbie brand. The toy has a long history of controversial moves — from sending the wrong message to young girls when it comes to body positivity to inadvertently adding to the harmful stereotype that girls and computer stuff just don't go hand-in-hand.
But more recently, Mattel appears to have been more conscious of social issues affecting their customers.
Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.
Another ad from the toymaker released last month cleverly dismantled gender stereotypes when it comes to girls and their career choices. And the month before that, Barbie got a bit more diverse when it released its Zendaya doll, dreads and all.
There's always room for improvement. But making sure to tell little boys that of course it's OK that they love Barbies, too, is a welcome step in the right direction.
Check out the ad for Moschino Barbie below: