Does everything look more pink? Rose-tinted glasses maybe? Nope! It’s just the Barbie effect! For the first time in years pink has taken the world by storm and credit goes to…

The Barbie Marketing Campaign!

The Barbie movie managed to paint the world pink and bring back feminism. Here is a breakdown of how they did it and the backstory behind it all!

”I Feel So Un-barbie Today”

Prior to the Barbie movie, we didn’t see much pink around. Women started to hold almost a grudge towards the color. Neutrals were in style, neutrals brought us respect, neutrals looked serious. So naturally, that's what we liked.

It was believed that pink would make one look “too girly” or “not cool.” People were made fun of for liking the color and not taken seriously due to that reason. 

This started the fall of pink. 

Pink clothes, accessories, and other items stopped being bought. Pink was not seen as a serious candidate; instead, something to be made fun of. But, the Barbie marketing campaign put into perspective what pink could truly mean.

Once the Barbie Marketing campaign had launched, people saw the power of pink and it shifted the cultural acceptance of it. 

“It is Literally Impossible to be a Woman”

With being a woman comes unreasonable expectations. This is true whether it's in Barbie Land or the Real world. All we can do is move to be more supportive of each other and grow from outdated mindsets. 

I'm not like the other girls Epidemic

One of the biggest problems that women face is their fear of being seen as inferior due to their femininity. As a defense mechanism, it was easy to blame the color. 

Pink can be seen as a weakness in someone’s personality and because of that, you would not be taken seriously. Pink is not what was imagined when thinking about something as professional and mature. Girls strayed away from the idea of femininity and wanted to be seen as more than just a girly-girl who likes pink. 

Thus began the divide between women where you were viewed as less than if you were “too girly.”  Women started to turn on each other and unknowingly normalized misogyny. This prompted the whole “I don’t want to be like the other girls,” “I don’t want to wear pink,” and “I am stronger than that” mindset. Women felt as though being seen as everyone else is just embarrassing. 

In the Barbie movie, when Sasha says “men hate women and women hate women. It’s the one thing we can all agree on,” it was a HUGE reality check. Why would we turn on the people who are just like us, going through the same struggles, and feeling the same feelings? 

This or that, Women can’t be it all.

In society, women “have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.” In the movie when Gloria talks about how there are so many unattainable standards for women, it highlights the struggles faced to simply be accepted. 

This quote specifically took the world by storm! Millions of women resonated so deeply with this empowering speech that it became a viral sensation. The vulnerability shown within this topic united women all across the world. 

The song “What Was I Made For” by Billie Eilish became almost an anthem for the movie and its message. 

Women continued to make videos on social media about the movie and used this song in the background. These videos gaining attention using the song created a link between both the song and movie. Every time the song was searched up, the movie was also top of mind. This helped the Barbie marketing campaign by establishing the message they wanted to send to society. 

With both the movie and song in our hands, we learned to be more accepting, appreciating, and empowering towards each other.

“Every Night is Girl’s Night”

The Barbie movie was widely popularized and loved by its fans because of the Barbie Marketing Campaign. From digging in the back of their closets to wearing pink for the first time in years, everyone was ready for Barbie’s pink phenomenon! The pink outfits and bright smiles lit up the theaters as everyone went to watch the movie of the summer! 

Videos of all the different Barbies wearing pink immediately went viral on almost every platform. This created almost a sense of belonging and everyone wanted to be included to get in on all the fun! This drove sales of the movie as more people wanted to go and watch due to the Barbie marketing campaign.

Although the target audience may have been assumed to be just women, everyone came together for a good movie and an even better message. Whether it be friends or family, everyone went along with the women in their lives to show appreciation and understanding for the struggles faced.

“You Have to Choose: High Heel or Birkenstocks“

Barbie was widely known for its 100+ partnerships following Barbie’s sparkling success after its release. The movie went on to work with big brands such as Airbnb, Xbox, Aldo, and Zara. 

Airbnb brought back traction to one of their biggest houses: Barbie's Malibu DreamHouse! They merged it with the Barbie movie by correlating it to Ken and how he is hosting. This sparked a new trend and caught the eyes of entire families, not just women. There were multiple themed houses available through Airbnb with the growing popularity of Barbie. Why not go on a pretty pink adventure?

Another example of this was seen in the Xbox campaign. This directly brought in different audiences for not just the brand, but also the movie. Xbox hosted a giveaway with a Barbie-themed Series S Console, a first of its kind!

This attracted many fans of the Barbie movie who may not have been interested in the gaming device. Similarly, due to the console, many Xbox fans (or as we say in Barbie terms, Allans) then became curious about the movie.

This helped both the Barbie marketing campaign and the Xbox brand to achieve a more diverse and inclusive audience.

With each partnership, the Barbie marketing campaign was able to bring in a wide variety of consumer bases. People were buying pink items again! The drought was finally over... The excitement was back... People loved pink again!

“You Have to Decide For Yourself What Comes Next”

Even after two years, we can still see the lasting effects of the Barbie movie reclaiming the color pink within our day-to-day lives. Feminism and women’s empowerment were brought back to attention and reached their peak following the movie’s release, and it is still a very popular topic to this day. 

Pink is now worn proudly and seen as a progressive movement rather than something to be ashamed of. And we’ve got numbers to prove it!

Post Barbie movie, there was a…

• 416% increase in pink clothing searches 
• 1,135% increase in pink aesthetic room searches
• 131.4% increase in pink jewelry sales
• 46% increase in pink usage across marketing sectors
• And much more!

Looks like they can’t get “Kenough” of the pink now, can they? 

Not only has pink returned to style but so has femininity. This cultural shift has made women stronger, prouder, and more comfortable being themselves.

It’s safe to say both Barbie Land and the real world do have something in common: our love for pink and our love for being a woman. The Barbie marketing campaign did a wonderful job bringing to our attention the power of pink and girlhood.

Just remember, “the dream house wasn’t built in a day– keep working, keep shining,” and of course stay pink!

✍️ Written by Nusrat Khan