I have thirty-five minutes to kill before my next class today, so I felt like talking about something that makes me kind of mad, but it's been a trend I've been noticing in society for the last few years.
In 2020, American Girl started doing collaborations with other brands. First, the Olympics, then, other fashion companies. Then, in 2022, other media franchises - making outfits and dolls based on established intellectual properties, like Harry Potter, Barbie, Disney, etc. We have a full blown Disney doll line now, and more dolls based off of other intellectual properties are coming, including Wednesday and Wicked. And it seems like every other release is American Girl not fleshing out it's own lore, but tacking onto something else.
This parallels how things have been in the entertainment industry. They're remaking everything, giving everything prequels and sequels, spending so much money focusing on making things based on other properties, while not giving creatives time to flourish. Not investing in original ideas, not really giving things that aren't established the time of day.
This trend started around the late 2010s in greater society. But in the 2020s, it has been the defining feature of how American Girl has changed as a company.
I don't know - what are your thoughts?