Barbie vs Mr Potato Head

Lemonade. Brains on universe. Thinking critically is more important than ever. That's why we make Smash Boom best. We want every kid to know how to spot a good argument and how to call out a logical fallacy. But none of it is possible without your support. Seriously, we could disappear if our listeners don't step up. But that part is easy. Just join the team. We're going to be doing a great job. We're going to be doing a great job. That part is easy. Just join SmartyPass. You'll get access to ad-free versions of our shows, special online hangs with our crew, discounts on merch, and more. Plus, you'll feel great knowing you're helping us pay our debaters, sound designers, writers, and more. Join now at SmartyPass.org. Thank you. Now, it's showtime. Hi, I'm Molly Bloom, and this is Smash Boom Best. The show where we take two things, smash them together, and ask you to decide which one is best. Today, we've got two toys that spur creativity and imagination. One's a fashion icon for the ages, and the other one is a bulbous blank slate. That's right. It's a Barbie versus Mr. Potato Head. Here to spar for the spud is comedian Comrad Tripp. I'm here to show you all how appealing Mr. Potato Head is. Appealing. And here to do it for the dolls is singer, actor, and story pirate Alex Nader. Do you hear that? Yeah, it's the sound of me coming down Barbie Dreamhouse's elevator to snatch this win. And our judge for this playful prize fight is Julia from San Francisco. Julia competes in triathlons, sings Chinese opera, and has two guinea pigs and a brother. Welcome, Julia. Hi, everyone. So tell me how you got started singing Chinese opera. Yeah, so I grew up going to a Chinese immersion school where I spent half the day just learning everything in complete Mandarin, and the other half in English. And I thought practicing Chinese opera would be a good way to stay connected to my Chinese culture. And it's super cool. You get to use swords and spears and stuff like that. Whoa, that is really cool. So how is Chinese opera different than like Italian opera, say? Well, the most obvious one is it's in Chinese. But also I would say there's a bunch of different other character roles. Like in Italian opera, you don't really think of people doing martial arts or stuff on stage. Whereas in Chinese opera, you have specific characters who all they do are really cool flips and stuff like that. Whoa, that is really cool. So do you get to do the flips? I'm working on it. That's so cool. So what's a character you've gotten to play that you've enjoyed? Well, one big part of my Chinese opera experience is teaching younger kids how to do Chinese opera. And there was one where they played the clouds in this giant Chinese opera production with all sorts of professional troops. And they were in the background doing their little cloud dance, and that was a lot of fun. That's so cool. Okay, and triathlon. Can you tell us what triathlon is? Yeah, it's a super cool endurance event where you start in the water swimming, then you transition to cycling on your bike, and then you end with running. So is one of those parts of the race your favorite? Do you have to say during the race, none of them are my favorite? But my favorite part of triathlon is general, is just after the race, when you get to hang out with the other athletes and you drink your chocolate milk, it's always a lot of fun. That's so cool. So do you have any advice for Comrade and Alex today? I think a good argument starts with being a good listener, so make sure to really understand your opponent's arguments. Very good. Well, we'll see if Julia picks Team Barbie or Team Mr. Potato Head, but first here are the rules of the game. Every debate consists of four rounds, the Declaration of Greatness, the Microwound, the Sneak Attack, and the Final Six. After each round, our judge, Julia, will award points to the team that impresses them the most, but she'll keep her decisions top secret until the end of the debate. Listeners, we want you to judge too. Mark down your points as you listen at the end of the show. Head to our website, smashboom.org, and vote for whichever team you think won. Okay, Julia, Comrade, and Alex, are you ready? Yes. Yeah, let's starch our engines. I'm ready. Then it's time for the Declaration of Greatness. In this round, our debaters will present a well-crafted, immersive argument in favor of their side. Then they'll each have 30 seconds to rebut their opponent's statements. With Up to Coin, and Alex, you're up first. Tell us why life in plastic is indeed fantastic. When I was a kid, I loved my Barbies. I would spend hours creating scenarios and elaborate adventures for them. Basking in the outfits, the accessories, and the plasticky blonde hair of Barbie. Barbie, you're amazing. No, Alex, as a young girl, you're amazing, with a bright future ahead of you. Oh, Barbie. Do I even have to explain how incredible Barbie is? Just look at her. She stands up straight. She takes up space. You don't see her hiding behind a mustache. Pieces of her face falling off? No, no, no, no, no. She has main character energy, and that confidence is probably why she's excelled at countless careers. Could you imagine seeing Barbie's résumé slide across your desk? So, what made you interested in working at Super Scoop's Ice Cream Parlor? Oh, I just felt like it was time for something new. And I love ice cream. Oh, well, let's take a look at your résumé here. Newzanker, firefighter, architect, Olympian? What was your sport? Oh, just skiing, gymnastics, surfing, basketball, swimming, tennis, and beach volleyball. I...you...you're hired. Yay. She's also been an astronaut, nurse, CEO, computer engineer, game developer, wildlife conservationist, and she's run for president almost every election since 1992. Now, you might be thinking, wow, Barbie, pick a lane. But that's the thing. Barbie's impressive range reflects changing ideas about women in the workforce. In fact, she helped with that. Let me explain. If you've seen the 2023 Barbie film, which was... Oh, what is it now? Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture? You might remember that the film starts with a group of girls playing with baby dolls. Because before Barbie, almost all dolls were babies. They laid into the idea that young girls were meant to be moms. And pretty much only moms. Hey, Brenda, do you want to go climb that apple tree? I see some fruit at the tippity top. I can't. I'm triple feeding all my baby dolls. It's so stressful. Brenda, you need a break. Not when the lives of 12 dolls depend on me. I'm coming, William. When Barbie came on the scene in 1959, she was revolutionary. She had an identity, an independence, cool clothes, jobs, and friends. And she wasn't defined only by motherhood. And she kept changing since then. She now comes in a variety of body types, skin tones, hair textures, facial features. There's Barbies with prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs, and hearing aids. The makers of Barbie even released the first ever autistic Barbie, which was created with guidance from the autistic community. Mr. Potato Head dropped the Mr. to become just Potato Head, in an effort to become more inclusive. Which is cool, but it's nothing compared to the self-reflection and growth of Barbie. I can change. I trust myself to grow. I choose me. I just love a girl who's willing to really look inward and do the work, you know? And she's been doing that work for over 70 years, inspiring kids to be whatever they want to be. Like me. I've always dreamed of winning this debate. And you can do it, Alex, as a full-grown adult, because you're smart, funny, and you've got me in your corner. Aww, Barbie. You have really risen to meet every moment. You have engaged with the world on every level. And that is why I love you. The world bends to you, Barbie. But you bend to no one. Literally, because your arms don't bend. Long live Barbie! Wow, an inspiring declaration of greatness there for Barbie. Julia, what's it out to you about Alex's argument? I loved your point that Barbie lets little girls see themselves beyond motherhood and all sorts of amazing careers, and that's definitely something I experienced growing up with Barbie. Very nice. Okay, comrade, it is time for your rebuttal. You get 30 seconds to show why Barbie is more like boring be. Your time starts now. Yeah, you mentioned that Mr. Potato Head's parts fall off. Yeah, sometimes they do, but they go back on. They always go back on. What about Weird Barbie? Weird Barbie, her parts came off, never put them back on. Pick a lane, yeah, that is what I'm saying. Road safety is important. Pick a lane. Nominated for an Oscar, didn't win, didn't win. There was a Barbie long ago that used to say, that had a voice box that used to say, math class is tough. How is that for helping the youth? Math is the easiest. And aren't all Barbie's limbs prosthetic technically? They're all plastic. In the idea of picking a lane, true imagination has no lane. It can go anywhere, just like Barbie. But how does it go places without lanes? It seems like you really need to expand your imagination, because I genuinely think that where we're going, we don't need roads. Oh, great, back to the future reference. Okay, the tension around these toys is intense. We'll hear more right after this. Today's episode is sponsored by Quince. I'm a person that doesn't really like shopping, because I'm worried that the things that I'm going to buy are not going to be worth it. 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Quince.com. Smash, boom, best. Best. Smash. Smash, boom. Best. Okay, we're back with Barbie versus Mr. Potato Head, and Comrade is about to tell us why Mr. Potato Head is ahead of the pack. Imagine this, you're a toy maker looking to create an iconic new toy. You want this toy to be easy for kids of all ages to play with, something that doesn't have all the fancy bells or whistles, something that jump-starts the imagination. Plus you want it to be shaped like one of the most noble vegetables in the world. Oh right, that toy already exists, and it's called Mr. Potato Head. Mr. Potato Head was first dreamed up in the 1940s by an inventor named George Lerner, which is the perfect name because he got the idea by learning from his kids. As the story goes, George's sons loved playing with their food at dinnertime. So George decided to make a toy for his kids out of real food. He gathered up bottle caps and thumbtacks from around the house and stuck them on real potatoes to make silly faces, and they were a hit, bringing smiles to both the produce and his project. Check out my potato, it's a spot. It looks like a regular potato, but it's a secret agent, double-O potato. Well, my potato is an alien. George knew he was onto something, so he got to work and created a kit with 28 different pieces, little plastic ears, eyes, and noses. And you could stick them onto any fruit or vegetable to make your own toys. You could make an angry-looking banana, a sad apple with a mustache, a grinning spud with glasses, anything you could imagine. By the 1950s, the toy became officially known as Mr. Potato Head. And get this, it was the first toy to ever appear in a TV commercial. Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head with their own cars and trailers, that's what's new. See, Mr. Potato Head has a car and boat trailer, and there's a car and shopping trailer for his wife, Mrs. Potato Head. It's such fun to do, and so easy. Advertising directly to children worked, and he soon sold more than $4 million worth of perfect potato playthings. That's a lot of Potato Heads. Mr. Potato Head was a trailblazer, a revolutionary, a hot potato worth holding onto. It was one of the first modern toys that kids could design themselves, and we're still talking about it decades later. Because it's refreshingly simple, unlike pretty much everything else in the world. The world today isn't refreshed nor simple. It's rotten and complicated. There are way too many choices now. Maybe you want a candy bar from the grocery store, there's like 50 different ones on the shelf now. Cookies and cream, peanut butter, coconut, triple decker, extra fudgy, glubby, I can't even pronounce that one. Nobody has the time or the teeth for all that. With Mr. Potato Head, you don't have the endless overwhelming options. It's not even a whole potato body, it's just a head. You don't need a dream house and a bunch of tiny little outfits, unlike some other toys. Just eyeballs, a mouth, ears, a fancy little mustache, maybe, and your imagination. That's all you need. The salutation spud relies on simple creativity, not just accessories. But don't be fooled by Potato Head's simplicity. It's so popular that there's all different types now. Bugs Bunny-themed Potato Head, Spider-Man Potato Heads, even ones that look like Darth Vader. Luke, I am your tater. I am. I mean, your father. Corporate synergy prevails. Listen, I know Mr. Potato Head is the underdog in this debate. Potatoes literally grow under the ground. They have eyes, but they never sparkle. Mr. Potato Head doesn't have a hot pink convertible, or any friends aside from his partner misses Potato Head, or a real job. Mr. Potato Head is just me. He's just like me for real. I have been told that I look like Mr. Potato Head. Completely unprompted in need of more pieces. Sometimes people try to hurt your feelings on purpose. But how can being compared to such a marvelous part of millions of people's childhoods be considered an insult? It's an honor to be seen as a valiant, invested vegetable that stands the test of time. I don't need more accessories. I have a personality. And that's all you need to create the coolest, wackiest looking toy that you can imagine. So the next time someone compares you to Mr. Potato Head, just give them a high five. Because Mr. Potato Head is a winner. And if you're thinking about comparing someone else to Mr. Potato Head, maybe just don't do that. It still makes me feel a little sad. Just give me a high five. Just keep giving people high fives and play with Mr. Potato Head. A giant high five for you, Comrade. Julia, what's it out to you about Comrade's declaration of greatness? I loved your argument that Mr. Potato Head has a really unique kind of simplicity and also is kind of relatable sometimes. I love that. Very nice. Okay, Alex, you've got 30 seconds to poke holes in those potato arguments. Your time starts right now. I'm going to take a tip from Julia and be a good listener because my ears don't fall off of my body willy-nilly. I'm going to argue that, yes, Mr. Potato Head is simple, accessible, and that makes Mr. Potato Head limited, where Barbie is limitless. You have 15 seconds. I have 15 seconds. Of course I do. No problem. And so concise that you only need half of your bottle time. Oh my gosh, I should have kept going. Oh my gosh. I really genuinely did want to say that that pulled on my heartstrings so, so much. I just think that Barbie has a jeep. Remember that. That's true. The trick is to talk slowly. So slow. And then eventually pause for effect as well. And then still don't say anything. I do have to say, Molly, it feels like you've picked two fabulous debaters. My energy is fully, if my energy could be described as a color, it is the color pink. And I think, and I think, Comrade, your amazing delivery is sort of throwing me off because... To deep brown, like an unscrubbed potato. Excellent work, both of you. You both are beautiful. Okay, Julia, it is time to award some points to these colorful, wonderful debaters. Please give one point to the Declaration of Greatness that you liked best, and one point to the rebuttal that won you over. You get to decide what makes a winning argument. Did one team make stronger points? Did another show more passion? Award your points, but don't tell us who they're going to. Have you made your decision? I have. Excellent. Alex and Comrade, how are you two feeling so far? Great. Feeling so good. I'm feeling that that 15 seconds is really going to be my demise, and now I have to really kind of show up in a different way for the next part of this. I have faith in you, just like Barbie. All right, it's time for a quick break. Change your outfit and your nose. And we'll be right back with more Smash Boom Best. You're listening to State of Debate, home to rage and rhetoric and awe-inspiring argumentation. Hello, Debate fans. I'm Todd Douglas, and I'm here with the one and only... Taylor Lincoln, and lucky me because I just hooked a big ol' logical fallacy. Logical fallacies are debate mistakes that make your argument weaker. I just saw someone using the special pleading fallacy. That's when a person asks for an exception to be made for their side without any support to back it up. Let's take a listen. Thanks for fishing with me, Jesse. I've been dying to test out this new bait I've been developing. No problem, James. Besides, I've been dying to go fishing for months. What's been keeping you? It's really hard to get a fishing permit this year. Without a permit, you're not allowed to fish, but luckily I was able to get one yesterday. Oh yeah, those permits sure are important for conserving wildlife. Every English would get one. Exactly. Hey, when did you get your permit? Oh, me? Oh no, I never got one. But I think we'll be okay. What? But you just said people should have them. Yeah, but I'm a really good fisherman. I think I'll be fine if I don't get one. You know what I mean? Besides, what could go wrong if just one guy doesn't have a permit? Woof! We're gonna need a bigger boat for a logical fallacy this large. James knows having a fishing permit is really important, so it's unfair that he didn't get one himself. That's right. You're not allowed to fish without a permit, but he wants a special exception because he's good at fishing. That's a fishy excuse to me. Exactly. James should have gotten a permit like Jesse did before they hit the lake. Wow. All this fishing talk has put me in the mood for some seafood. How about you, Taylor? Ooh, I'm always open for a fine filet of fish. We'll see you next time on... State of Debate! Smash. Boom. At a Best. You're listening to Smash Boom Best. I'm your host, Molly Bloom. And I'm your judge, Julia. And we love getting debate suggestions from our listeners like this one. Hello, my name is Emma. This is my debate idea. Glass, frogs versus spring nails. Oh, that's really fun. I love a specific and slightly slimy debate. We'll check back in at the end of this episode to see which side Emma think should win. And now, back to today's debate. Barbie versus Mr. Potato Head. Get ready for round two. It's the... Micro round. Comrade and Alex, you will each get three chances to make a micro argument backed by a cool fact. Alex started things off last round, so Comrade, you get to go first. Let's hear your first fact for Mr. Potato Head. Fact number one, can't get enough of Potato Head. Take a Potato Head road trip. The state of Rhode Island put up over 46-foot tall statues of the famous Spud. Each was designed by local artists and made in collaboration with toy company Hasbro. So go to Rhode Island and hug a Spud. My first fact is also going to be about numbers. Over one billion Barbies have sold worldwide. Do you realize how much a billion is? If you counted one number per second, like one, two, three, four, etc., getting to a billion would take you over 31 years to finish. 31 years. That is how many Barbies have sold worldwide. I've been alive for 33 years, so really that's almost all of my years. That's a lot of years. But something about years of, I can't do segues well. He's not just a toy. He's an aspiring public servant. Our hero, Mr. P, was part of the mayoral race of Boise, Idaho in 1985. That's the year that Back to the Future came out. We're keeping it going with Back to the Future. He even had little buttons made that said he was a man of the soil. He even got votes, four of them. If you voted once a year, that'd be four years. Well, the same way that Mr. Potato Head isn't just a potato, Barbie isn't just a doll. Barbie is a multimedia franchise. Do you understand how you can hold up being video games, animated films, TV shows, web series, and a live action film? Which I know I said before, but it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, which is huge when you think about the fact that Barbie is a toy. That is legendary on so many levels. Yeah, they make movies about toys. There's actually a film series with a fifth installment called Toy Story that Mr. Potato Head's in. Mr. Potato Head is more than a toy as well. He's an eco-warrior in recent years. A toy company who makes Mr. Potato Head create a version that's made out of earth-friendly plant-based plastics. That's much better for the planet than traditional plastic that is made from stuff that doesn't even break down in nature. He may be brown of skin, but he's green of heart. He grows in the earth, so of course he wants to save it too. For my last fact, not to bury Mr. Potato Head here, but I must say that is Mr. Potato Head the main plotline of the Toy Story franchises? I would say so. I don't think so. I think that's a sea plot at best. A seed plot. All right. My last fact, I want to take a bit of a more serious note, because I think this is so fascinating. I didn't know this before coming into this debate. Barbie's inventor is named Ruth Handler. She was an incredible person who not only invented one of the most impactful best-selling toys of all time, but also after surviving breast cancer and undergoing a mastectomy in 1970, she used her expertise in plastics to design a prosthetic breast. So she wasn't just a toy inventor. She used her talents and passions to solve a deeply personal and real-world problem that faces many women. I loved learning that about the creator of Barbie. Very, very nice. Okay, Julia, what stood out to you from this micro round? Well, I loved hearing about Mr. Potato Head's Mayoral Race in Boise, Idaho, and those whopping four votes. But I also loved hearing about Ruth Handler and being an advocate and breast cancer survivor. So I'm pretty in between right now. Yeah, these were some excellent, excellent facts. Surprising. I didn't know any of them. Okay, so now it's time, though, Julia, to award a point. Please give a point to one of our debaters. Criteria, completely subjective and completely up to you. Have you made your decision? I have. Perfect. Keep it secret and we'll be right back. Want Smash Boom without the ad breaks?哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎哎! Today's challenge is dictionary dual. Invent a word that captures all of your side's greatest qualities and write a dictionary entry for it. Is it an adjective? A noun? Dare I say? An adverb? All right, Alex, we're going to start with you this time. Please tell us your invented word that captures the greatness of Barbie. My invented word is dollastastic evolutionary. Ooh. Dollastastic evolutionary. Actually, it it has a Latin base with roots in Latin and Greek. And the definition is a doll that has conquered a global audience. Can you say the word one more time? Dollastastic evolutionary. Oh, I love a super long word. Can't wait to use that in a conversation coming up. OK, Comrade, your turn. What word shows Mr. Potato Head's best side? Poditability. You've heard of potable. This is potatable because it's a potato. It's it's how it's how many pieces you can put into a potato with it still being considered a potato without. And the the maximum it's more than four. It's more than four votes. Somewhere between four and a billion. It's yeah, potato, potato, potato, potato, potato. The language of origin. All the the the mother tongue of the earth. Yeah. The wind. Potatobility. Yeah, potato. Potato, potato, potato. I both of these words are in my pocket now. Cannot wait to use them. OK, Julia, please think about these two excellent words. Is one going to make its way into your vocab? Did one make you laugh? Did one make you think? Choose a side to award a point to. But as always, keep it hush hush. Have you made your decision? I have. OK, then it's time for our final round. The final six. In this round, each team will have just six words to sum up the glory of their side. Comrade, time to put a bow tie on this debate. All right. Potato head, child imagination, human heart. Beautiful. OK, Alex, please bring it home for Barbie. Enduring, ambitious, evolving, global. Dollar-totastic evolutionary. Barbie. Oh, beautiful. Way to sneak in that made up word. Love it. OK, Julia, you have heard the final sixes. Think about them one more time and please award your final point. Have you made your decision? I have. Are you ready to declare one team the Smash Boom Best? Yes, I am. OK, drum roll, please. And the winner is. Mr. Potato Head. No. Really? Oh, OK, fair. Oh, my gosh, so Julia, what moment decided it for Mr. Potato Head? It was the last two words, human heart. And I was like, that's really true. It was so close. As close as close can be. Oh, my goodness. I haven't won Smash Room Best in years. Oh, thank you. This is a beautiful moment. Alex, you did amazing. Every fact was so real and so heartfelt. I love. Shout to Ruth as well. The creator of Barbie, known even the guy who invented Mr. Potato Head. Not not really that interesting. I don't know if he had a life after Potato Head, but Ruth and Barbie are all amazing. I love the word. I is super something. It was a super word. I don't I don't know many words. Well, well done, Comrade. I so thoroughly enjoyed hearing you talk about Mr. Potato Head. I do think that Julia hit the nail right on the head with the heart of it all. I think that what stood out to me so much about that toy and your argument was the true heart, the spirit you brought to it and the simplicity, the simplicity of Mr. Potato Head and how accessible it is for any single kid or person who plays with it. I tried to bring some shine to this debate today with Barbie, but I think you brought a lot of heart to Mr. Potato Head. Well, that is it for today's debate battle. Julia Crown, Mr. Potato Head, the Smash Boom Best. But what about you? Head to smashboom.org and vote to tell us who you think won. This episode was produced by me, Molly Bloom, Santa Totten and Mark Sanchez. We had sound design by Rachel Breeze and Engineering Help from Ben Hicks. Our announcer is Marley, four-worker auto, and we want to give a special thanks to Austin Cross and Taylor Kauffman. Alex, is there anyone you'd like to give a shout out to today? I would like to give a shout out to Mrs. Potato Head, who I don't think got enough air time today. She's incredible. She's a hero. She really keeps it all together. Absolutely. And how about you, Comrade? Any special shout outs? Yeah, to Barbie. And I guess to my niece and nephew, real people. And my mom, the breast cancer survivor. I didn't know the truth facts. So yeah, shout out to all breast cancer survivors. You're the real heroes. That's lovely. And how about you, Julia? Any special thanks or shout outs? Shout out to my little brother, who's a big fan of the show, and he was the first person I ever played with Barbies or Mr. Potato Head with. Aww. That's so great. All right, before we go, let's check in and see who Emma thinks should win, the Glass Frog versus Spring Snail debate. I think Glass Frogs would win because some of them are completely transparent and you can sometimes see their organs, and they become completely transparent by hiding their blood. If you're between the ages of 13 and 18 and you'd like to be a judge, or if you're any age and you have an idea for a knockdown drag-out debate, head to smashboom.org slash contact and drop us a line. And if you're a fan of the show and want to keep it going, head to smartypass.org to subscribe. We'll be back next week with a new Smash Boom Best episode, Slime versus Slinkies. Bye. Bye-bye. Hi, everyone. Goodbye. Okay. Comrade, how you feeling? Oh, I'm trying not to feel anything.