Photo: Canva
Why Is Barbie Hot Again?
Barbie is back as a cultural icon as the Barbiecore pink-aesthetic trend continues and a blockbuster movie arrives this weekend. As WWD notes, the Barbie fanfare arrives despite advertisers’ and the fashion industry’s shifts “away from such stereotypical beauty images to portray more diversity.”
Barbie, 64 years young, has faced ups and downs, including a downturn as feminism arrived in the early ‘70s. The doll’s unrealistic body shape has faced criticism in recent years.
Mattel spent decades overhauling Barbie’s image by having her embrace a range of careers and altering her figure, face, and wardrobe to remain culturally relevant. Improving sales trends since 2018 have been attributed to diversity pushes, including introducing gender-neutral dolls in 2019 and a Barbie Fashionista in a wheelchair in 2020.
“Today, Barbie represents the world that kids see around them,” Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz told The New York Times in 2021. “Barbie has more than 200 careers. There are more than 35 skin tones, almost 100 hairstyles, and 10 different body types. More than half of the Barbies that we sell today are diverse.”
Still, the doll is known for her traditional looks, with stick-thin dolls and Dreamhouses regularly ranking among top sellers.
The buzz around the campy live-action PG-13 Barbie movie, starring Margot Robbie, is partly due to nostalgia, including from collectors and older adults, as well as Gen Z’s nostalgia for the ’90s and 2000s. The doll also directly taps into widespread infatuation with the color pink.
Numerous licenses, including with Gap and Forever 21, have been formed to capitalize on the movie.
After surging during the earlier stages of the pandemic, Barbie doll sales declined in the first quarter of 2023 due to cautious retailer buys around the overall toy category.
A Euromonitor report, however, predicts the movie will breathe new life into doll sales due to Barbie’s broad appeal. Marguerite Le Rolland, Euromonitor’s head of apparel and footwear, said, “As the trailer states it, whether you love or hate Barbie, this movie is for you and in the fashion industry it seems that wearing rich bright pink is also gathering everyone across age groups and genders.”
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What’s driving the buzz around the Barbie movie, the ongoing Barbiecore fashion trend, and the resilience of the Barbie doll over the years overall? Why hasn’t Barbie been canceled amid diversity & inclusivity pushes?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
What’s driving the buzz around Barbie? Relentless, no-holes-barred marketing from Mattel. Although licensing programs and influencer programs built around movie launches have become commonplace, I’ve never seen anything like the multi-channel blitzkrieg Mattel has unleashed for Barbie. This isn’t a property scrambling to catch up with massive demand, it’s an intentional brand ubiquity play designed to create a perpetual buzz machine. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that by the way and we’ll be seeing more of it as brands’ options for building awareness and affinity explode.
A little bit of levity, nostalgia and escape during very serious times often gains momentum. Love Barbie and what she represents or not, something about toys and bright pink brings a smile to many faces. Mattel will get a fresh look from consumers. Let’s see what they do with that.
More than half of the Barbies that we sell today are diverse.” Careers. Hair styles. Wardrobes. Body types. Look at how Mattel has managed the evolution of Barbie. This isn’t “again”. It’s “still”.
Barbie is aspirational for young people to role-play career ideas. Barbie is generational, and passed down with affection from one fan to the next, and Barbie is empowering to everyone who chooses to hop on the Barbiecore fashion trend. Barbie is light, fun, positive and can be enjoyed IRL. Why not try to have the best day ever?
Barbie is having a cultural moment as her new movie floods social media with marketing. Ever it were so, like The Lego Movie, Care Bears, Star Trek and more. Movies that come already baked with very familiar memories – and toys – have a big advantage in grabbing our attention.
Mattel’s marketing across channel and touchpoints is seamless and consistent. This is how brands win.
The ever evolving and diverse consumer is being seen but the stick-thin Barbie brand needs to do better. Inclusive marketing and having a few BIPOC Barbie’s is not enough. Body image and mental health is something girls and women of all ages battle on a daily basis. Seeing a white skinny blonde woman marketed alongside the “perfect” man feeds into what we should look like and be with.
Brands have to do better.
The toy business has always been about great marketing and media tie-ins. Mattel has been very good at utilizing that strategy for years. Barbie is an iconic brand. It has demonstrated reliance over the years, at least in part, because generations of girls had girls of their own and felt some nostalgia for the toys they had. They’ve also done their research and responded to changing consumer views about dolls and gender, keeping the dolls relevant and fun for kids. The movie, despite what Heidi Cruz has to say, will be successful and give the brand even more exposure and market share.
Barbie is hot again because there is a star-filled, mega-marketed blockbuster about to be released on the general public. The movie is campy, fun, and, very pink. It has spawned all sorts of promotional opportunities for retailers: one of our local consignment indies is hosting a Barbie Night Movie Premiere at a nearby theater. Ticket sales and pink clothing sales are brisk.
Every little girl knows who Barbie is. It’s refreshing to see a movie juggernaut that doesn’t involve spaceships or explosions.
Brilliant move for Barbie. The current generation of young kids will now be introduced to Barbie, Ken, and all their friends. Parents and grandparents will tell their stories about growing up with Barbie. In a way, this is one big expensive commercial that will make money in two ways; at the box office and in retail stores.
Diversity and inclusivity should be a big change from the way it “used to be.” You’ll see plenty of that in the movie and retail stores.
The buzz and success are evidence of Mattel’s ability to respond, adapt, and innovate in parallel with changes in the marketplace. Of course, there will always be those who aren’t fans of Barbie but 64 years of success is hard to ignore. It would seem that Mattel has found the right balance between new offerings and supporting the classics of the past. I know three generations of Youds have found Barbie a topic of common interest this week in our home – 4-year-old, 32-year-old, and 58-year-old who have all been fans throughout the years.
Successful marketing (why it was successful has been correctly identified in the article).
The last question, tho, is the interesting one (by which I mean I had the same thought): is this the ‘Silent Majority’ rising up in rebellion (39-18-33 or Fight!)?? Perhaps, but personally I believe that to be overthinking it; and it helps, too, that – so far at least – the busybodies of the OpEd pages don’t seem to have paid much attention. Barbie was always such a phantasy – dream or nightmare, depending on your preferences – that people don’t see it as having much connection to the real world.
Great insight into this will be found in the documentary Tiny Shoulders on Hulu — a doc which is exceptionally honest and follows along as the Barbie team attempts to redesign Barbie bodies. It led to successful launch in 2016.
My sense is that Barbie has always been resilient — because she delivered a value for girls not found in most other dolls (although I’m not an expert on the category). Yet, from the documentary, the girls played with Barbie in their own ways and NOT in some of the silly ways which Barbie opponents claimed or were featured in Barbie ads.
We should all pay attention. Mattel is doing a very unique thing — reinvigorating a product which has run deeply afoul of evolved cultural norms. It’s fascinating to watch and they seem to be doing excellent work.