Survey: Frozen merchandise ousts Barbie as top holiday gift for girls

Survey: Frozen merchandise ousts Barbie as top holiday gift for girls
(Image credit: Mark Ashman/Disney Parks/Getty Images)

Let it go, Mattel: Elsa, Anna, and Olaf are more popular with girls than Barbie this holiday season, a National Retail Federation survey reports.

That knocks Barbie from the survey's top spot for the first time in its 11-year history. Twenty percent of parents plan to buy Frozen-themed gifts for their daughters this year, compared to 17 percent for Barbie.

The bad news for Mattel comes just after an artist released "normal Barbies" sporting acne and stretch marks. The company has also faced backlash over a book suggesting computer engineer Barbie would need help from men to execute her programming project.

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The toy at the top of the boys' survey was no surprise, though: Lego reigns supreme.

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.