Long before “ Baby Yoda ” captured the collective hearts and imaginations of kid and adults everywhere , a unlike infant seized the aid of democratic acculturation . In the former 1980s , Kennersoldup to 1 million Baby Alive doll yearly .
Unlike other plastic baby who bluster only of apparel or pram , Baby Alivesimulatedthe perils of worry for a child by forcing tyke to cope with its eating , drinking , and urinating needs . Or worse .
Since its entry in 1973 , Baby Alive enraptured kidswith its mechanical mouth that could “ chew ” a special sort of food that came in a mailboat and had to be fuse with water . Down the baby ’s torso it would go , until it number out as plastic doll waste — and often colorful charge plate skirt waste .
Disgusted ? That was what Kenner was hoping for . Like a prototypeGarbage Pail Kidscharacter come to semi - life , the company banked on what it called the “ eww factor . ” Unlike most chick , endearing and bespoke in their fine bird dress , Baby Alive was meant to repulse .
When the musical theme of a wench that could “ eat ” was circulating at Kenner in the other 1970s , then - president Bernie Loomisknewit could be a big smasher . But there was an urge to go further — to present the realism of spoonful - feeding in such a way that a child would have to endure the gastrointestinal conclusion of ingesting intermixture like Cherry , Yummy Banana , and Sweet Pea . These dry package , while sluttish to box , were reminiscent of astronaut food for thought . ruffle with H2O , the paste slid through Baby Alive until it plonk into their doll Pampers . after , Kenner marketing director Laura Pugh would pertain to this as the “ diaper - dirtying aspect . ”
While it seemed like Baby Alive would best be gifted only to small fry you disliked , the doll ’s action seemed to be a hit with young lady . Kenner ’s focal point group content expressed a kind of glee , declare it both disgusting and resistless .
As Baby Alive ’s popularity grow , so did Kenner ’s keen selling horse sense . If a fille had a Baby Alive bird , she would obviously demand to keep it feed , which meant parents were constantly returning to store for the food packets . And if the doll kept fulfilling the napkin ’s purpose , it would require more of those , too . In this way , Baby Alive resemble nothing so much as an analogTamagotchi , another toy dog creation whose sole design in living imply eating and pooping .
Kenner read particular marketing joy in this , cheer on Baby Alive ’s prolific defecations in its advertising , which was splashed all over photographic print and telecasting to keep thepriceof the dolly at a sensible $ 10.87 even though it be retailer $ 9.90 . Like Baby Alive , they dealt in intensity . “ Oh - oh ! Baby Alive needs a diaper variety ! She really dirties it ! ”
By 1992 , Baby Alive no longer needed Kenner to be a mouthpiece . The doll beganspeakingon its own , apprize girl when it had detonated yet another Sweet Pea bomb in its increasingly sagging drawers . Mercifully , Kenner added a pot to the line , where Baby Alive could presumably relax .
Baby Alive isstillon sale , though now under the Hasbro umbrella . One modeling , Baby Alive Real As Can Be , is diapered but puddle only feign messes , not genuine ones . oddly , her 1970s vis-a-vis seemed more advanced . It convey a glimpse of a future where we not only play with artificial intelligence , we had to clean up after it , too .
