Does Barbie still matter?

Barbie Mania has hit the world by storm.? Granted it’s a pink fluffy storm but a storm nonetheless.? But what exactly has caused this mania?? Is this a masterclass in marketing or is it just having access to mega money or clever use of both.??

The estimated marketing budget for Barbie was a whopping $150m, not to mention the similar levels spent in the actual production. ? But with the $337m taken at the box office worldwide over opening weekend, it seems this was a calculated risk worth taking.????

The phenomenon orchestrated by the relentless marketing campaign has grown legs, wings, a tail and a mind of its own.? It pulses with its own life force.? Massive partnerships such as pink Barbie themed Crocs, a pink Barbie Xbox, rebranded packets of penne pasta, Barbie Burger King (available only in Brazil),a real life Barbie dreamhouse on Airbnb, Coldplay belting out the iconic Barbie Girl song at their concert in Amsterdam and even a partnership with dating app Bumble.??

Clothing and shoe partnerships paraded the high street with Aldo, Zara, Primark, Gap, Sweaty Betty all riding the pink gravy train.? Selfridges, Asda, Amazon, Argos, Superdrug selling dolls, toys, roller skates, makeup, bags, popcorn, cake to name a tiny few.? All catching a ride on the Barbie branded bandwagon.

It’s like we woke up one morning and someone had painted the world neon pink.? I mean, this did actually happen in Salford in 1997 where residents woke one morning to find their street had been painted entirely pink.? So it seems Barbie is not new to a thunderous statement.

Barbican tube station in London was renamed Barbiecan and a pink Tardis appeared at Tower Bridge for the premier.? Pink billboards have appeared in cities worldwide, the burly faces of London’s black cab drivers now poke out from their rebranded mobile sea of pink and glitter, Trafalgar Square’s sombre stone lions are sporting hot pink coats and Bondi Beach cracked out the pink candy stripes.??

Warner Brothers and Mattel have certainly attacked their marketing strategy with a huge explosion of sprinkles and sparklers.? They have absolutely gone for it.??

So yes, a huge amount of advertising budget was spent but the earned media response off the back of that has been tremendous. ? Coldplay alone generated millions of views on social media.??

There is also the colour pink.? We can’t talk about Barbie and not talk about pink.? Pink is Synonymous with Barbie.? You see pink, you think Barbie.? There is PINK everywhere and this isn’t exactly a colour to blend into the background.? Funny tweets relating to the interlinked identity of the colour pink with the film have also sprung up over social media.

So not only has the Barbie Mania pink branded umbrella hit the real world with a bang, we must also address the emergence of Barbiecore.??

Not only is there a pink marketing campaign everywhere you turn, but the fashion and home worlds are saturated with pink as well.? Pinterest has seen a 1,135% increase in searches for “Barbie aesthetic bedroom” from May 22 to May 23.? It’s like a flamingo has exploded over literally everything.? There are tips on how to “makeover” your house Barbie style, Barbie fashion tips to follow this summer, florists creating Barbie themed bouquets in, you guessed it, PINK, not to mention a movement of celebrities dressing in pink so hot it burns.????

With negativity splashing all over the news, maybe that’s what people need right now.

But who or what even is Barbie???

Mattel’s Barbie dolls made their debut on 9th March 1959 at the American International Toy Fair in New York City. ? Barbie was the brainchild of Ruth Handler who identified a gap in the market for “adult” toy dolls after seeing her daughter play with either adult paper dolls or dolls immortalised as babies, casting young girls forever in the role of mother and nurturer.? Whilst this is a driver for children to develop empathy, Ruth believed there should be more diverse ways for a child to develop a relationship with her/his doll.? Barbie was named after her daughter Barbara and two years later Barbie’s on again off again boyfriend was introduced named Ken after her son Kenneth.??

Mattel sold over 300,000 dolls in their first year and over 1 billion dolls have been sold since that first iconic launch.

So that answers the “what is Barbie” but doesn’t even come close to answering the arguably unanswerable question of “who is Barbie”?

Over the last 64 years she’s gone from being an intrigue to a sensation to a phenomenal success before being dragged to the focal point of fierce debate on who women are, what they should look like and what they want their lives to be.??

All through the 90s this debate raged as Barbie, an iconic toy, clutched in the hands of countless young girls became an anti feminist icon, vacuously flaunting her hip to waist ratio of 0.05, large bust and blinding blond whiteness.

But have we put too much pressure on what Barbie is and stands for?? Have we projected onto her our own questions of what being a woman stands for?? Is she just simply a toy?????

Why are boy’s action figures not torn to shreds in the same way?? Why is it ok for our screens and shops to be adorned with muscle bound superheroes with special powers living with secret identities???

Barbie was always unashamed of who she was and always has been.? She was meant to be taken at face value.??

But despite the image which pops into people’s heads when they hear the word Barbie, she has tried to adapt with society over the generations, from the late fifties to modern day.? Her expansion has allowed girls of all backgrounds to find a doll they can personally relate to their own circumstances and isn’t this what inclusivity is all about?? Not only in terms of race and ethnicity but in terms of career.? Barbie has had a spectacular career since her inception.? She has been a fashion designer, a robotics engineer, a doctor, an astronaut, a rock star, a sportswoman, a renewable energy engineer and a business woman to name a tiny few.? Is she? encouraging young girls to become their own hero?? Be who you want to be just like me.??

Having not seen the film yet I can’t really comment either way on what I’ve read but for those of you who have seen it, what is your opinion?? Did the 90s take what was essentially a small plastic doll and make her an enemy to women and women’s identity?? Or has her expansion and diversification over the years succeeded in making her culturally relevant?? Is she now a feminist icon?? A woman who can achieve absolutely everything she wants to and be whoever she wants to be???

What are your thoughts?

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Written by?Laura Stevens

My name is?Laura?Stevens and I am a freelance copywriter.??

I have extensive experience in digital advertising spanning the last 12 years and have worked across display, programmatic, SEO, video and content writing.?This is inclusive of articles, blogs (personal and professional), emailers and web pages and I have almost finished writing a children's novel.

I am now pursuing my passion for writing as a career.

My partner and I are parents to three young children with whom we spend as much time as we can and I also have a passion for reading and hiking.?If ever you can't find either one of us, we've more than likely disappeared up a mountain!