Innovation

Society is made up of a mixture of many different ethnic backgrounds, cultures, and personalities. Currently toy stores have limited showing of this diversity in dolls for boys. Online options are also limited to boy dolls that offer a positive outlook and celebrate diversity in brown boyhood. Melanites was created to revolutionize the notion that there is a criteria for what is appropriate for boys based on gender.

Melanites is planning the launch of an “Action Pal” doll. This is a doll - promoted as a toy for boys - which combines the emotional appeal of a doll with the novelty of an action figure. It comes in different skin tones, facial features, and hair types to appeal to boys of color. The action figures are based on four nine-year-old boy characters each with its own individual personality; “Thinker, Doer, Maker, and Performer”. The idea behind it is to encourage young boys of color to stay true to themselves and not feel they have to conform to the stereotype of hyper-masculine male which has become part of the culture.

Inspiration

Founder Jennifer Pierre says that Melanites has been "a passion project" from the beginning. While Jennifer mentored kids and volunteered at a local community center, she noticed that many boys were not expressing their full potential and their dreams seemed restricted and "within a bubble." Positive affirmation for the boys' future was not provided through the media. Jennifer founded Melanities to do just the opposite. It is now a company that celebrates brown boys while "changing the internalized beliefs that society has placed on them."

Melanites plans for its line of multicultural boy dolls to be the next phase for boys. These dolls will inspire and allow boys to dream big and will do what Dora the Explorer and Doc McStuffins did for girls of color.

Overall impact

The company is as much a social mission as it is a viable business. So far, the impact of the boy dolls has been positive. Jennifer Pierre tells how the first time the prototype was put in front of a little boy "his eyes lit up and the first words he said was “wow it's brown just like me.” This is the impact the company wants the boy dolls to have.

Melanites has brought awareness to its mission. They have held focus groups with kids, pitched their ideas to parents and schools, as well as launched various campaigns. They also won pitch competitions, applications for funding, and admission into competitive accelerator programs.

Consumer’s decisions are often influenced by trends like gender neutrality and diversity. However, Jennifer realized that gender neutral toys were not doing enough to change the stereotypes and offer positive affirmation for boys. The “Action Pals” are the only toy currently on the market that is tackling gender stereotypes and diversity simultaneously. By combining the physical and digital, through its action series, Melanites is creating an entire world where young boys of color can enter and engage and see themselves in a positive light.

Business benefit

Melanites recently launched a pre-order campaign on social media. They have secured nearly 500 signups for the release of the “Action Pal”. Offering the first brown boy doll line, which they hope will meet the demand of consumers who shop for toys that reflect who they are.

Social and environmental benefit

A new line of Barbies with diverse skin tones, body types, and personalities was released by Mattel, the global leader in toys. Within the toy industry, there is a social campaign going on that focuses on abandoning gender stereotypes within the aisles and through messaging (blue for boys, pink for girls). Melanites visions being the next phase combining the gender and diversity gap.

Interview

Jennifer Pierre, Founder/CEO