In an attempt to combat the so called "Barbie Syndrome," characterized by children seeking to emulate the unrealistic ideals of Barbie dolls, parents have resorted to giving less perfect toys to their daughters. Released by Mattel in 2010, the Monster High Dolls celebrate diversity and imperfections. With a motto of "Freaky Just Got Fabulous," and more recently, "Be Yourself, Be Unique, Be a Monster," the Monster High Dolls have generated widespread appeal through their promotion of self-empowerment. Unlike Barbie, the dolls vary significantly in appearance with a multitude of skin tones, eclectic fashion styles, and monster-like attributes such as stitches, wolf-ears and bandages. As a result of the Monster High Dolls' success, rival doll company Bratz released their own Bratzilla line, while Playhut also came out with the Mystixx vampire dolls. For retailers, the success of the Monster High Dolls marked a shift in consumer desires. In the year of their release, Barbie sales decreased quarterly by 12% as more and more little girls began asking for Monster High Dolls rather than Barbies for Christmas and birthdays. No longer were children attracted to the cookie-cutter ideals of beauty. Instead, they were seeking role models that were a little more diverse and not so stereotypical.