Ken and Barbie's fate put to Facebook vote

Barbie and Ken, two half-century-old dolls marketed by the world's biggest toy company, Mattel, split on Valentine's Day 2004 after 43 years together, and now the public is being asked to weigh in on whether they belong together.

After the big break-up, Barbie began a dalliance with an Australian surfer dude-doll called Blaine and Ken dumped his role as Barbie's eternal sidekick and "stepped out in a big way," Mattel says on the Facebook page for the two dolls.

Ken went on to win critical acclaim for his role in Toy Story 3, and also made appearances at Fashion Week in New York, the page says.

But even as he revelled in his new-found celebrity, Ken's aim was always to win back Barbie, Mattel says.

"Having explored the singles scene after his starring role in Toy Story 3, Ken now knows Barbie is the only doll for him," Mattel said in a statement outlining some of the "epic romantic gestures" the boy doll is making to win back his girl.

One of those gestures is by professing his love for Barbie on billboards in New York and Los Angeles, one of which reads: "Barbie, We May Be Plastic But Our Love is Real."

Mattel is now asking fans of the two dolls, who have retained their youthful good looks and seamlessly changed with the times, to vote on either doll's Facebook page or on barbieandken.com to determine if they should get back together.

Ken reportedly wants to win back Barbie by Valentine's Day, in a week's time.

There was no word Monday on how the poll was going or what Blaine's fate would be if Barbie goes back to Ken.

(c) 2011 AFP