2023-07-19 08:07:00
Slippers, skates, toothbrushes, face masks, clothes for large and small dolls and humans, inflatable pool toys. Products inspired by the movie “Barbie”, which opens this Thursday, have invaded the planet, turning it pink.
A trend that seems to be just the beginning, since Mattel has granted a hundred licenses to accompany this project that had stalled several times since 2009.
The American group tries to capitalize on this event by signing all kinds of agreements ranging from fashion and beauty products to accessories.
Gap, Microsoft (Barbie XBox), Forever 21, Ulta Beauty, Hot Wheels (Mattel brand), Chevrolet and Progressive (insurance) are some of the many chosen. There is even an agreement with its rival Hasbro to produce a Monopoly Barbie.
In exchange, Mattel will produce a Transformers edition of Uno card games.
“I’ve been covering this industry for thirty years and I’ve never seen anything like it. Barbie is everywhere!” says Paul Dergarabedian, a media analyst for specialist media company Comscore. “Barbie is tailor-made for marketing. She is perfect because she is a toy, a product and, moreover, a lifestyle and a color”, he adds.
The color is pink in all its shades, with a predilection for the Pantone 219 C reference, adorned with fluorescent colours. The amount of pink paint used on the film’s sets was such that it caused worldwide shortages, a production manager said.
irresistible campaign
The way of life is “Barbiecore”, with acid colors and a style rather from the sixties -Barbara “Barbie” Millicent Roberts, her real name, was born in 1959-. Without forgetting a home inspired by the house of dreams.
In fact, there is a real house in Malibu. It is offered by Ken on the Airbnb platform and will be free for two nights for the premiere of the film, while Barbie is absent.
“Mattel and Warner have created an incredible campaign. It’s irresistible,” says Dergarabedian, who expects a box office of at least $75 million in the United States alone for the first weekend.
“It’s ‘Barbie’ weekend,” he predicts.
The nearly two-hour film opens at the same time as Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” dedicated to the father of the atomic bomb.
An incongruous face to face that social networks have dubbed “Barbenheimer”.
“This is unprecedented. It increases the potential for these two unique films that take advantage of the phenomenon”, explains Dergarabedian, who recalls that it will be the second weekend of the blockbuster of “Mission Impossible”, which has achieved the best premiere of the series in the United States.
Barbie’s prestigious roster of artists adds to the hype: Margot Robbie is Barbie, Ryan Gosling is Ken, and they’re joined by America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae and Will Ferrell.
Greta Gerwig co-wrote the screenplay with Noah Baumbach, and directed the film.
Gerwig comes from independent cinema and is the author of other films with a clear feminist accent: “France Ha” or the story of a rebellious young woman, “Lady Bird” (2017). Gerwig adapted another classic in 2020, the novel “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott.
As for the soundtrack, the production spared no names either: Dua Lipa, Lizzo, The Kid Laroi and the Nicki Minaj-Ice Spice duo (with Aqua) performing the Danish-Norwegian group’s hit “Barbie girl” from 1997.
Then, Mattel sued them in court for violation of patent law, and criticized the sexualization of their star doll.
This is no stranger to controversy since its creation, like the film that is banned in Vietnam for scenes considered pro-Chinese that will have to be blurred in the Philippines.
In France, it has been the poster of the film that has provoked reactions for what some consider a sexual allusion. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the use of a very popular expression that has a double meaning is voluntary.
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