TORONTO, Canada — Today, Tim Hortons and Barbie are launching the Tim Hortons Hockey Barbie dolls at participating restaurants across Canada, with 100 per cent of Tim Hortons’ net proceeds donated to Hockey Canada Foundation to support girls’ hockey. The partnership — which also includes offering guests Tim Hortons Hockey Barbie donuts that feature a fondant top with an edible Hockey Barbie image, as well as Tim Hortons Hockey Barbie-branded Tim Cards — is aimed at showing girls that they can be anything, including a hockey player.
Tim Hortons and Barbie launched Tim Hortons Hockey Barbie as part of a mutual commitment to support girls in pursuing their dreams. The dolls are a part of Barbie’s You Can Be Anything program, which inspires girls to reach their limitless potential through imaginative play and engaging with meaningful role models. Research shows that starting at age 5, many girls begin to develop limiting self-beliefs – they stop believing their gender can do or be anything – this is the Dream Gap. One of the ways to help girls believe they can be anything and transcend the Dream Gap is through positive role modeling.
Tim Hortons was excited to launch this partnership based on the recognition that girls are underrepresented in youth hockey. Through the Tim Hortons Timbits Minor Sports Program, hundreds of thousands of kids aged four to nine are provided with opportunities to play house league sports, with a philosophy not based on winning or losing, but on learning a new sport, making new friends, and just being a kid. But traditionally when it comes to Timbits Hockey, only 18 per cent of players are girls.
“As a leader in hockey in Canada, it’s important that Tims Hortons shows support for young girls who want to play the sport. We want to ensure that girls feel like they belong in hockey just as much as boys do,” said Hope Bagozzi, Chief Marketing Officer for Tim Hortons. “We’re really excited about the impact of this partnership with Barbie and to show our strong support for girls’ hockey.”
The partnership between Tim Hortons and Barbie also includes support from two Canadian women who have broken barriers in the sport of hockey: Marie-Philip Poulin and Sarah Nurse.
Poulin’s game-winning goals to secure gold medals for Canada in Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014, along with her career of accomplishments, led her to be named the world’s best female hockey player earlier this year in a poll of NHL hockey players.
Nurse also won a silver medal with Poulin and Team Canada in PyeongChang in 2018. She is also a key contributor and ambassador of the Professional Women’s Hockey Player Association (PWHPA) where she advocates to promote, advance, and support a single, viable professional women’s ice hockey league in North America that showcases the greatest product of women’s professional ice hockey in the world.
To thank Poulin and Nurse for supporting girls’ hockey with us, one-of-a-kind dolls made in their likenesses were created as part of Barbie’s ongoing global initiative called the Dream Gap Project, which introduces girls to women’s stories from all walks of life to show them they can be anything. Poulin and Nurse are also featured in Barbie’s latest You Can Be Anything video aimed at inspiring girls to pursue the sport of hockey.
“Barbie was founded in 1959 by Ruth Handler and the philosophy behind Barbie was that through the doll, a little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Today, with the launch of the two Tim Hortons Barbie dolls, girls can imagine themselves as a hockey player,” said Tara George, Country Head, Mattel Canada.
“Barbie has inspired girls to be anything by showcasing aspirational roles in fields where women are underrepresented. As a parent who spends a lot of time at the rink, I am incredibly proud of the partnership with Tim Hortons and the opportunity to encourage more girls to get involved in hockey, one of the country’s most beloved sports.”
A group of girls who graduated from the Timbits Hockey program also recently received the opportunity of a lifetime – a chance to have a one-on-one conversation with Poulin and Nurse. The sessions, which are part of Barbie’s You Can Be Anything Program, gave the girls an opportunity to hear from two role models in Canadian women’s hockey.
There are two Tim Hortons Hockey Barbie dolls to choose from, which come with a Tim Hortons hockey jersey, helmet, hockey stick, a doll stand and Certificate of Authenticity. The Tim Hortons Hockey Barbie makes a great gift for collectors and kids aged six years and up and sells for $29.99.
