Oh dear. Mattel has gone and made a doll-promoting product-placement reality series called Genuine Ken: The Search for the Great American Boyfriend, hosted by Whitney Port. They've rolled out a preview clip and a fascinating website introducing the boytestants.

We know this news came out yesterday, but we couldn't resist sharing the Joan, Roger, Don, and Betty Barbie dolls that Mattel is hawking for $75 a pop. Alcohol problems, sexual peccadilloes, and suburban ennui not included.

Fresh after this week's sobering slideshow of our troops in the Middle East, Matchbox toys comes out with an oddball ad campaign to spark kids' war fantasies of returning home draped in the American flag.

Have you ever looked at a Barbie doll and wished you could replicate the look for yourself? You'll be able to do just that in a few short months. Mattel is now planning to turn Barbie into an "adult fashion brand"—something the company has already done in Asia—and partnerships are already in place with Bloomingdale's, Vera Wang, and Jeremy Scott. Mattel has also negotiated a pact with the CFDA whereby the trade group will help the company locate 50 designers willing to "produce life-size outfits inspired by Barbie" in exchange for a big, fat wad of cash, and Barbie's first runway show will take place during Fashion Week in February. But there's more to come: Mattel is also launching a line of beauty products, one of which bears the very appropriate name "Plastic Smooth." [WWD, The Cut]

Mattel, owner of the Scrabble brand outside of the United States, brought suit against brothers Jayant and Rajat Aggarwal, creators of Scrabulous, for copyright and trademark infringment. Delhi High Court judge S Ravindra Bhat has ruled that while Mattel couldn't claim copyright on the board design, it could defend its trademark. The Aggarwal brothers must not use the name "Scrabulous" in any form, including in links or source code.The popular Facebook application version had already been banned by the social network, both in the US and in India, but a new version called Wordscraper appeared, but now competes with official versions from Mattel and US rightsholder Hasbro. (Image by k1v1n)

Press your ear to the ground this morning and feel the subsonic rumblings rolling over from Riverside — better known these days as the Epicenter of Epochal Doll Litigation since Mattel went to war against Bratz manufacturer MGA Entertainment last month over Barbie-centric copyright infringement. And while a jury has already ruled that Bratz designer Carter Bryant conceived the dolls while working for Mattel (as well as MGA boss Isaac Larian's complicity in adapting them for his company), Bratz future are in doubt as aftershocks threaten nearly $2 billion worth of damage on the sassy young brand. But what seismic phenomena could possibly wreak such catastrophe in both the dollscape and the hearts of Bratz-obsessed girls around the world? Aggressive eyebrows and suggestive lips, lawyers argue for starters:

It's no big deal for Mattel to release a toy that just happens to look like a recently deceased actor in conjunction with a popular action flick, especially when the family approves. But imagine you've somehow gone home with a comic book nerd, and he shows you his "collection." What is the one possible way he could further creep you out?