The Pink Pandemic
The global box office of Greta Gerwig's Barbie has already exceeded one billion USD. In North America, the figure reaches $459 million, in other countries - a total of $572 million.
However, the hype around Barbie had become a worldwide phenomenon even before the eponymous movie hit the big screen. The pink wave swept over viewers, bystanders, and brands, companies, and their products.
People fell in love with the Barbie aesthetic without even buying tickets to the screening. Young people and adults, regardless of gender, turned into adherents of Barbie mania, and pink became an undeniable trend that is still in the tops.
Mattel, the maker of Barbie toys and co-producer of the eponymous movie, has signed more than 100 sponsorship deals with brands around the world. Now, thanks to the X-Box console, there is a virtual world of Barbie, as well as Pinkberry frozen yogurt, OPI nail polish, Moon Oral Beauty toothbrush set, Ruggable home rug collection, and dozens of other products marked with the "pink brand." Fans can rent a Barbie house or take a tour of Architectural Digest's Barbie Mansion.
Barbie's house on Airbnb
As part of the movie's marketing campaign, true fans were offered to spend a weekend at Barbie's Malibu DreamHouse. The iconic pink mansion became available for rent on Airbnb.
Ken's rooms in Barbie's DreamHouse - two double rooms - were available for booking. To get a chance to spend a weekend here, fans had to submit a request and receive a personalized invitation.
Airbnb set the price at 0 euros "because Ken couldn't calculate what price to set for Barbie's DreamHouse in Malibu," the release said.
"After all, Ken likes the beach, not math!"
The house has a dance floor, a bar and grill, a swimming pool, a skating rink, and a gym. The concierge helps guests with accommodation and catering.
Barbiecore in the world of beauty and fashion
The gently realistic feminism of director Greta Gerwig has obviously resonated with the inner demand of millions of people around the world. The photo of Margot Robbie in the image of the iconic doll published as the release of the Barbie movie sparked a phenomenal growth of the barbiecore trend on TikTok and a pandemic spread of popularity of all shades of pink. The trend was immediately picked up by the fashion industry. Valentino's creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli developed a new shade of rich pink "PP pink" for the fall-winter 2022 season and created a monochrome collection with it, which immediately gained mega popularity. Fashion icons, Gigi Hadid, Anne Hathaway and Florence Pugh, etc., chose total looks in Valentino's new signature shade on the red carpet.
It should be added that this is not the first wave of barbiecore-mania in the fashion industry. Take Paris Hilton, a cult adherent of the Barbie look since the 2000s, Kim Kardashian's love for pink Balenciaga total looks, or Jeremy Scott's spring-summer 2015 collection for Moschino, which is entirely dedicated to Barbie.
Democratic brands also plunged into pink. Everything from socks and basic T-shirts to dresses, bombers, overalls, and accessories has been emblazoned with the Barbie logo or at least a version in the trendy shade. Zara has created separate spaces in two stores - in Paris and New York - that recreate the world of Barbieland in detail.
The "pink fever" caused by the Barbie movie was also picked up by cosmetic brands. Realizing the global nature of the trend and the truly crazy expectations of consumers of "pink" aesthetics, companies have created hundreds of products.
For example, You Are The Princess Beauty Corporation has released a collection of 18 products based on the canons of Barbimania. As a result, numerous glitter, makeup removal patches, headbands, and face highlighter products sold out in less than 48 hours from the start of sales.
Being just like Barbie
Created in the last century, the Barbie doll has been repeatedly accused of imposing unhealthy stereotypes of an idealized female appearance on society.
Aussie woman Jazmyn Forrest was only 18 years old when she came up with the idea to become a real Barbie. She had plastic surgery to enlarge her breasts.
Since then, Jazmyn has spent 100 thousand dollars on a variety of "improvements" to her appearance. The 25-year-old has undergone many different plastic surgeries and cosmetic procedures and hopes that now she has finally become like Barbie.
Jazmyn told that she would not have been able to succeed in life if she had not changed her appearance. Moreover, she claims that now that her resemblance to Barbie is almost perfect, people treat her much better.
"I was a teenager when I first thought about having plastic surgery. I saw girls with fake boobs and noticed how the pretty women got treated so much better. I knew from then I had to invest in my body. With each surgery, I really do great treated better by both men and women, while my confidence also skyrockets. I see my body twice a day before I shower, and I see my face twice a day when I brush my teeth, so it really helps my self-esteem. It so worth investing in your body and face, as that is what the world sees," she said.
In order to have a Barbie-like face, Jazmyn regularly injects fillers into her lips, as well as her cheeks, nasolabial folds, chin, jaws, and cheekbones. The Australian also uses regular Botox injections to remove wrinkles.
As for her body, she underwent liposuction of her abdomen, arms, inner thighs, upper and lower back, chin, and face, and had another breast augmentation at the age of 24.
Most recently, Jazmyn traveled to Seoul, South Korea, to undergo another plastic surgery procedure, this time a rhinoplasty and forehead reduction.
Jazmyn is active on social media and shows her transformation to her followers. The girl admits that sometimes she encounters misunderstanding from some subscribers, but these are exceptions. In general, according to the living Barbie, people compliment her and praise her for her courage to be open and honest. They are also eager to learn about her experience with surgeries and procedures she has undergone.
Virtual reality
Following the release of the official trailer and visuals, Warner Bros. launched Barbie Selfie Generator, an AI-powered website that helped users create their own Barbie-style photos that could be shared on Twitter and other social platforms. A Barbie filter was also launched on TikTok. These tools started a trend of personalized "Barbie selfies".
Meanwhile, Microsoft has created exclusive X box Series consoles in the Barbie style. Manufactured in a small batch, the unique X box Series S consoles are decorated in the style of Barbie's dollhouse. The set also includes several interchangeable panels that decorate users' gamepads. They are stylized to resemble the images of Ken and Barbie in the movie. These consoles were not available for purchase in the public domain, but were given away as exclusive promotional gifts.
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It is already obvious that the Barbie movie and the hype created around it will go down in history as a phenomenon. Despite the fact that the Barbie brand is one of the most famous in the world, Mattel's successful cooperation with brands all over the world has created not only an additional powerful promotional wave for the movie, but also a whole subculture of pink lovers.