Ken Wants to Win Barbie Back....

...and he is willing to undergo a makeover to do it!

Watching CBS Sunday Morning today, I learned that Barbie and Ken may be getting back together. She dumped him last year because he wasn't exciting enough (or because he wouldn't commit), and started dating new beau Blaine.In a story today in the Sunday Telegraph, Ken spoke through his publicist at Mattel toys and offered this statement:

"My new look will be something very now. My style will reflect my personality and will change with my mood on any given day...Time apart has helped me to realize what's important. Barbie is the love of my life."

Barbie and Ken were together for 43 years, and their breakup two days before Valentine's Day in 2004 came as a shocker to those of us who grew up with Barbie and Ken because they symbolized happily-ever-after. All of us dreamed of meeting our own "Ken" and driving off into the sunset in Ken's sportscar to our own Barbie Dreamhouse. Does anyone else remember the Barbie airplane (when Barbie was a flight attendant)? Barbie and Ken took off for exotic locales right from the airport on the floor of my childhood bedroom. My Barbie and Ken went on Love Boat cruises together, and long drives down the Pacific Coast Highway...and they kissed. All the time.

Well, 43 years after meeting, Ken was still reluctant to get married, and Barbie dumped him for Blaine, the australian boogie-boarder.

Now, Ken has seen the error of his ways, wants her back and is willing to do anything to do it. Isn't that they way it always goes? Barbie has moved on. After 43 years of waiting for Ken to "close the deal"--Barbie finally gave up. She met someone new and went on with her life. So of course, NOW is the time that Ken is going to make a play.

I hope she doesn't take him back. But I think she will. Barbie sales at Mattel are down by 33%. The pressure is on. Like Nick and Jessica (gawker.com), I think Barbie and Ken may play the happy couple for the sake of the commercial empire.