Everywhere you looked this summer, there was pink. The marketing behind the Barbie movie was massive. It seemed like every makeup, clothing and even suitcase brands had their own Barbie collaboration. Even people who weren’t looking forward to the movie, probably had seen a licensed Barbie product over the summer.
According to Mashable, “The Barbie promotional tour has been a roller coaster, to say the least, from the ample amounts of covetable merch and clever branding to the pearls of wisdom dropped by Ken (Ryan Gosling), not to mention Margot Robbie’s commitment to being our real-life Barbie Girl.”
Social media had a big impact on the promotion of Barbie. “Barbiecore” spread across every app. “Barbiecore”, is an aesthetic with lots of pink and bright colors. The internet’s excitement for the movie really helped promote Barbie products. Months before the movie was even released, people started talking about what they were going to wear. Barbiecore has been more than just for going to the movies. It has had a big impact on fashion everywhere.
Women’sHealth describes “Barbiecore” like this,“There’s no stopping imagination in Barbie’s world, and that especially rings true when it comes to style. The quintessential Barbiecore aesthetic is unapologetically bright and bold, unabashedly fun and hyper-feminine, fueled both by nostalgic and modern silhouettes… It’s all about maximalism, too, with outfits typically embellished in glitter and sparkles galore.”
Throughout COVID-19, movies were mostly only released on streaming. Now that theaters are back in business, people are making going to the movies a big deal. July 21, 2023 had two big movie premieres. Oppenheimer is a movie about the development of the atomic bomb. Barbie and Oppenheimer are opposites of each other. Somehow, the internet decided to make a day out of seeing both movies.
“Barbieheimer. It’s more than just black and pink side by side or a battle of the sexes manifested on celluloid. It’s a meme. It’s a mood. A vibe. A lifestyle. It’s the phenomenon that could save cinema as we know it,” Aja Romano of Vox said.
People came up with “Barbenheimer” because many Barbie fans were also excited for Oppenheimer. The juxtaposition of Barbie and Oppenheimer made a good social media trend. The excitement grew when artists who were on the Barbie soundtrack were announced. Almost a month before the movie was released, music from the soundtrack started to come out.
“Like the movie it decorates, the album strives for a fine balance of girlish innocence and knowing irony,” Kit Buchan described the soundtrack for TheGuardian.
Both Barbie and Oppenheimer did extremely well at the box office. Barbie had an opening day of $162M, and Oppenheimer opened with $82M. Barbie has brought in over $1 billion worldwide. Combining that with the money they made from promotional products, they have done very well. While the success of the movie is a good thing, what does it mean for the planet. Trends come and go, so now that the movie is out how is Barbiecore going to sustain. All of the pink and Barbie-themed things will most likely be thrown away when the next trend comes.
“A culture built on consumption must produce an ever-changing target to keep its participants spending money. And our culture has nearly perfected that practice. Every year (or even season), a new line of fashion is released as the newest, must-have trend. The only way to keep up is to purchase the latest products when they are released,” Joshua Becker, Forbes contributor, said.
Besides just promotional products, the cast did their part to advertise for both movies. Margot Robbie showed up to every press event dressed as a specific Barbie doll, which went viral on social media and brought much more attention the the movie. Casts of both movies talked about seeing the other’s movie.
“I think it’s great. I mean, I’ll be going to see Barbie. I can’t wait to see it. I think it’s great for the industry and for audiences that we have two amazing films by amazing filmmakers coming out the same day. Could spend a whole day in the cinema, what’s better than that?” Cillian Murphy, star of Oppenheimer, told IGN.
Not very many other movies would be able to pull of such extensive marketing. Barbie provided a perfect opportunity for it. One of the most unusual promotions that was used was a Barbie dreamhouse in Malibu. People were able to rent the property on Airbnb.
“I won’t comment on the budget. The reason people think we spent so much is that it’s so ubiquitous. That’s a combination of paid media and how many partners came to play with us. Because it pierced the zeitgeist, it has the impression that we spend so much. In fact, we spent responsibly for an event movie,” Josh Goldstine, president of global marketing for Warner Brothers, told Variety.
The success of the Barbie movie brings questions about future movie premiers. Are other movies going to use Barbie’s marketing as inspiration? The excitement for going to the movies might die down after a year or so of new releases, or will the internet continue to make going to the movies a big deal?
