Barbie and Ken were patterned off of real people. Ken was modeled after Fred,from Scooby Doo. Barbie was patterned after Jane Fonda from that move where she traveled in a fur lined space ship. It was campy but fun. I am not certain whether this was before or after she went to Viet Nam,when a lot of people got mad at her. I think she was just trying to be nice. No one was ever more nice than Fred,except maybe Scooby,who ate 15 decker sandwiches in one bite!!