App Store Pulls 'Barbie' Plastic-Surgery App Following Backlash

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By Karissa Bell2014-01-15 04:43:41 UTC

Apple's App Store pulled a Barbie-inspired plastic-surgery app on Tuesday, following intense backlash fueled in part by a Twitter campaign.

The game, which launched last week and was rated for children 9 and older, walked players through the graphic steps of liposuction that must be performed on an "unfortunate girl" to make her "slim and beautiful."

The dubious steps included injecting anesthetic, making incisions with a scalpel and suctioning out fat with a pump. This process was then repeated multiple times on Barbie's different "problem areas."

The game's description in the App Store was also highly questionable: "This unfortunate girl has so much extra weight that no diet can help her. In our clinic she can go through a surgery called liposuction that will make her slim and beautiful. We'll need to make small cuts on problem areas and suck out the extra fat. Will you operate her, doctor?"

The app sparked outrage across the Internet, but it was the Everyday Sexism Project that started a Twitter campaign to have iTunes remove the app. In multiple tweets, which were quickly retweeted and shared hundreds of times, the group asked iTunes to "reconsider marketing this 'game' to players aged 9+." The app was pulled just a few hours later.

Everyday Sexism also campaigned to have a similar plastic-surgery app from a different developer removed from the Google Play store. That app was also pulled today.

The developer of "Plastic Surgery & Plastic Doctor & Plastic Hospital Office for Barbie Version," identified only as "corina rodriquez," has more than two dozen other iOS apps in the App store, many of which have similar surgery and makeover themes. The "Barbie" app does not appear to be associated with Mattel.

The developer and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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Images: iTunes, Plastic Surgery & Plastic Doctor & Plastic Hospital Office for Barbie Version

Topics: app store (iOS) , Apps and Software, iOS, Tech