Often derided for stereotyping blondes, the makers of Barbie dolls have unveiled an unlikely curvy version of the 54-year-old German Chancellor Angela Merkel to mark its 50th anniversary. The doll will be on display at the international toy fair in Nuremberg.
The company that makes the Barbie - which has entered the English language as a noun to describe attractive but 'vacuous' women - said Merkel was an inspiration for young girls.
"She's simply a good role model for girls around the world," said a spokesman for Mattel.
The Angela Merkel Barbie boasts of her blonde bob hairstyle and a crisply tailored jacket. "She is tall, blonde and curvy, has cornflower blue eyes and implausible anatomical proportions," said The Guardian.
A Daily Telegraph journalist blogged: "The smooth cheek, bouffant blow dry hair, saccharine smile, nipped waist and colour-coordinated lipstick, necklace and top all scream 'American newsreader' rather than German chancellor."
Merkel was educated in Templin and at the University of Leipzig, where she studied physics 1973 to 1978 before moving to the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin from 1978 to 1990.
The German leader is fluent in Russian and was awarded a doctorate for her thesis on quantum chemistry.
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