Jilly Bing Company

“*Dolls are not just a toy that's in passing. It's the child's first imaginary friend. It's the child trying to make sense of the world.*”
―Elenor Mak, 2023
The **Jilly Bing** company was created by Elenor Mak in order to represent, empower and inspire young Asian-American girls. Founded in June 2022, the brand has recently began selling its first doll, the titular Jilly Bing, in August of 2023, with plans announced for at least two more dolls on the way. Received tremendously positively, the doll sold out of its first run, pre-orders enabled for the later holidays.

## History

The company began with an idea brought to Elenor Mak in 2022 after she had a disappointing search; her daughter Jillian had requested a doll as a gift, but Mak had been unable to find any dolls that looked like "a real Asian-American girl today. Says Mak, "They were stereotypes [or] vaguely ethnic, like it was an afterthought in the doll aisles." Remembering her own childhood of feeling inferior to her white friends, Mak resolved to make sure her children never felt as such. She then set out to create her own company named after Jillian, and one of Jillian's first words, "bing," the Chinese Mandarin word for "cookie."

Though she worked in finance, Mak began her challenging search for people in the creative industry who could help her with her mission. Eventually, she found the Los Angeles-based Japanese-American toy designer Dave Okada, who had long experience working on franchises such as *Star Wars.* With him and his family, all designers in their own right, they compiled an all-Asian American team– from immigrant, to multi-generational, to mixed-race. The company aspired to represent multiple Asian cultures, as well as empower and inspire children to connect to their heritage and create their own stories. The team also strove to create innovative designs and use authentic voices in their creations. Each doll was given a favorite food associated with a particular Asian ethnicity, giving them the ability to explore each of those cultures with each doll, in hopes that children would have "fun and delight" learning about different Asian foods. In their research with parents, the main takeaways the team were given were that the doll had to look beautiful with Asian features, and the idea that she would have to be more than just stereotypes.

“*Asian girls have always been told who they're supposed to be. Growing up, you were expected to be demute, polite, shy. We want to showcase her as[...] someone who has the freedom to be who she is.*”
―Elenor Mak, 2023.

After over a year of planning and creating, the first Jilly Bing doll was released, the titular Jilly, with her launch party celebrated on July 23 2023. She was advertised through multiple news channels up until her release on August 1 2023; the doll sold out completely on the following September 11, with pre-orders set up to ensure the next batch would be ready to ship for holiday deliveries.

## Mission

“*Jilly Bǐng started with a search for a doll that looked like my daughter, Jillian. I was disappointed by what I saw: clichés, stereotypes, and dolls painted tan over an existing white doll mold. I was reminded of my own childhood – of not seeing myself reflected in the world around me, of feeling like I did not belong.
So, I set out to create my own Asian American doll company named after Jillian and bǐng, the Mandarin word for cookie (and one of my daughter’s first words). With a talented team of designers, storytellers, and parents by my side, we researched and spent months designing dolls that resemble real Asian American children.
We are thrilled to introduce The Jilly Doll – Jilly is feisty and fun. Like so many little girls we know, she has a huge sweet tooth and loves to tinker in the kitchen with her Grandma.
We hope your family enjoys playing with The Jilly Doll as much as we do!*”
―Elenor Mak, Founder & CEO

## List of Dolls

*Main article: List of Jilly Bing Dolls*
* Jilly Bing: the titular protagonist, a fiesty and sporty baker who loves egg tarts.
* *Unnamed Filipino Girl*
* *Unnamed Black/Japanese Girl*

## Sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Neelakandan, Laya. (2023, July 28). *Frustrated with lack of representation, S.F. mom creates her own Asian American doll line*. San Francisco Chronicle. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/s-f-mom-creates-asian-american-doll-line-18264515.php Archived 15 August 2023.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 CBS Bay Area. (2023, August 8). *Bay Area mom launches Asian American doll after frustration with lack of representation*. CBS Bay Area. https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/asian-american-doll-jilly-bing-representation/ Archived 9/14/2023
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chen, Shawna. (2023, July 27). *San Francisco mom launches new Asian American doll.* Axios. https://www.axios.com/2023/07/27/asian-american-doll-jilly-bing Archived 08/11/2023.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Wodhean, Tenzin. (2023, August 8). *San Francisco mom ventures out to design Asian dolls.* AsAm News. https://asamnews.com/2023/08/08/diversity-inclusion-representation-toys-dolls-seeing-yourself-asian-american-doll/ Archived 08/09/2023
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Jilly Bing: Our Vision - WebArchive, 09/15/2023
6. ↑ Jilly Bing: Our Company Vision - WebArchive, 08/15/2023
7. ↑ Official Instagram, 08/01/2023 - "As we prepare to ship out our first 500 Jilly Doll's, we want to say thank you to everyone for the endless support and joining us on this amazing journey 📦💛"
8. ↑ Official Instagram, 9/11/2023 - "Due to an overwhelming response to Jilly Bing from people around the country, we are sold out!"