Barbie movie has been released in theaters on July 21st 2023 and it’s a success of critics and audience. The movie is directed by Greta Gerwig with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as the protagonists Barbie and Ken. It has grossed over $1.031 billion worldwide and has became one of the second-highest-grossing movie of 2023.
Barbie is the most known doll in the world with her long blond hair and her fashion style. She has been accompaning the childhood of millions of children all around the world since her creation in the 1959. She is not only an icon but she also is an example of good merchindising, communication and storytelling strategy.
Let’s see together the story behind this iconic doll.
BARBIE ALIAS BARBARA MILLICENT ROBERTS
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It was the 1959 when Ruth Handler, wife of the co-founder of Mattel, suggested to her husband to create a new doll. At the time, most of the dolls for children were represented by infants and she noticed, looking her daughter playing, that they liked to give the dolls adult roles. So, she had the idea to create an adult-bodied doll.
In 1956, during a trip in Europe, she came across a German toy doll named Bild Lilli. She was based on a popular character of a comic drawn by Reinhard Beuthin for the newspaper Bild and she was exactly what Handler had in mind. So, she bought three Bild Lilli dolls, she gave one to her daughter and took the other two the Mattel.
Once she returned to USA, she redesigned the doll with the help of the engineer-designer Jack Ryan and named her Barbie, after her daughter Barbara. The doll was introduced at the American International Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959.
BLACK AND WHITE ZEBRA STRIPED SWIMSUIT AND PONYTAIL
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This is the first dress and the first hairstyle Barbie had when she was released on the market. She could be blonde or brunette. She was marketed as “Teenage Fashion Model” with her clothes created by Mattel Fashion Designer Charlotte Johnson. The doll was made and her clothes were sewed in Japan.
350.000 dolls were sold only in the first year of production.
BARBIE’S BACKGROUND STORY AND MERCHINDISING
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After the creation of the first doll, Mattel also created a whole background story. It gave her a full name Barbara Millicent Roberts and an entire family, including mother, father, sisters, cousins and friends.
In a series of novels published by Random House in the 1960s, it is told that Barbie lives in a fictional town named Willows in Wisconsin with her father and mother George and Margeret Roberts. She has three younger sisters Skipper, Stacie and Chelses. She attends Willows High School and has a boyfriend named Ken (after Hadler’s son Kenneth). Barbie also has many friends of different ethnicities such as Teresa, Midge, Steven, Christie. Many characters have disappeared during the years, many others have changed and many more others have appeared. Moreover, she has had a lot of animals including dogs, cats, horses and many others.
Mattel established a communication strategy based mainly on television advertising, sharing her story. It also gave her a lot of accessories and gadgets (clothes, shoes, houses, vehicles,…etc) establishing a merchindising strategy based on selling all her things. It also started selling branded products like clothes and accessories for children and adults.
She gained a huge success, becoming one of the doll most sold in the world. Not only but Barbie also had a great cultural impact both in positive and negative ways.
ROLE MODEL
Since her first appearence, Barbie has been introduced as a role model who embodies the image of a strong woman who can be whotever she wants and can do whatever she wants. In fact, during the years many versions of the doll have been released such as Barbie Teacher, Barbie Astronaut, Barbie Vet, Barbie Pilot and so on.
The idea was to make her a model for the young girls, someone they could look as an example of good person, good student, good daughter, good friend. Someone who does not have limits about what she can become and do.
In 2018, Mattel also developed a collection for International women’s Day, the “Barbie Celebrates Role Models” in order to celebrate the most extraordinary women, responding to the mothers concern to have a positive role model for their daughters.
Moreover, in order to make every child of different ethnicity, with different body shape, in different condition represented, Mattel developed and realized different dolls with different characteristics.
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However, despite this introduction and this attention for the details, the doll was also at the center of many critics regarding the body image. Many people claimed that the doll didn’t represent a good body image for young girls who could be affected and got into eating and mental disorders like anorexia and so-called Barbie Syndrome.
Barbie Syndrome can be seen as a form of body dysmorphic disorder. Many people claimed that the doll’s proportions were not realistic and could lead the young girls to develop eating desorders and to use excessive plastic surgery in order to look like the doll.
There are indeed many cases of women that has altered their aspect in order to look like the doll, putting at risk their health and life.
BARBIE: THE ACTRESS
After the doll, as part of the communication strategy, since 2001 Barbie has also become an actress, in the sense that she has been the protagonist of many animated movies such as Barbie the Nutcracker, Barbie: The Princess and the Pauper, Barbie: The Swan Princess and so on. Since 2013, she has apperared in many animated television and web series such as Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, Barbie: Dreamtopia, Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures and Barbie: It Takes two. Both Barbie and Ken have also appeared in Toy Story.
In 2015, Barbie has also become a blogger, appearing on Youtube in a channel named Barbie Vlogger where she talks about her fictional life, her friends and family and also about mental health and racism.
The first live-action movie, as aforementioned at the beginning, has been released on July 21st 2023 by Warner Bros.
BRATZ COMPETITION
In 2001, MGA Entertainment launched a new series of dolls called Bratz, giving Barbie her first competition in the Fashion Doll Market.
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There was a controversy that lasted many years between Mattel and MGA about who was the real owner of the Bratz. Mattel claimed that the creator of the dolls, Carter Briant, was working for Mattel when he had the idea of the new dolls.
The two companies battled many times in front of the court. In 2011 a federal jury proclaimed the victory of MGA and sentenced Mattel to pay MGA $310 million for attorney fees, stealing trade secrets, and false claims.
In 2009, MGA launched a new series of dolls called Moxie dolls as a replacement of Bratz. It is also the producer of L.O.L Surprise.
FASHION ICON AND A GOOD STRATEGY EXAMPLE
So to conclude, since her first appearence Barbie has been seen in both positive and negative way. She faced some competition and many critics. However, despite all, she has become an icon that everyone can ricognize, her style is unique and unmistakable. We all think about her when we see something pink.
Mattel has been able to implement a good strategy of production and comunication that has allowed the doll to be famous all around the world. Handler identified a need and created a product to satisfy it.
Barbie is today a Brand with a strong identity, specific values and a detailed story. She was born as toy and has become like a real person with a real personality, a model and friend for many young girls.
She is an icon and an interesting case study.