G.I. Jane
G.I. Jane was a failed action figure created by Hasbro in 1997 in order to market G.I. Joe to girls.
Background[edit | edit source ]
In the mid-1990s, G.I. Joe, like other 1980s cartoons and toy properties (such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Adolescent Gene-Spliced Karate Hamsters, and Preteen Humanoid Taekwondo Horses), was in a commercial decline with its best days behind them. "Even the Power Rangers were becoming passe," said a Hasbro employee in a 2007 retrospective documentary. "We also noticed," he added, "that our demographic was 99 percent male and 1 percent butch diner owners named Marge, Barb, and Shar/Charlene. So we had this hair-brained plan to explore this untapped market."
Movie[edit | edit source ]
Hasbro decided to introduce the G.I. Jane line with a major motion picture, G.I. Jane, starring Demi Moore, whom Hasbro mistakenly believed was popular with kids. "She was doing The Quarterback for Notre Dame and Beaver and Asshole , so we misread her demo entirely," said the aforementioned employee in the 2007 documentary. "We didn't even know she had been in a movie called Striptease. Besides, Madonna turned us down flat!"
Reception[edit | edit source ]
The G.I. Jane IP was immediately massacred upon release. "This toy sucks!" Chris Chandler wrote in a review for his school newspaper in 1997.
Mattel sued Hasbro for "literally putting a bald Barbie head on a G.I. Joe action figure and calling it G.I. Jane." The case was settled out of court.