‘Barbie’ marketing goes way outside the box — an indication of more to come? : NPR

Margot Robbie poses on the pink carpet at a Barbie occasion in Seoul on July 2.

Jung Yeon-je/AFP by way of Getty Photos

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Jung Yeon-je/AFP by way of Getty Photos

Margot Robbie poses on the pink carpet at a Barbie occasion in Seoul on July 2.

Jung Yeon-je/AFP by way of Getty Photos

Within the post-COVID financial doldrums, movie studios have had a troublesome time making an attempt to lure folks again to film theaters: Witness the summer season field workplace struggles of the brand new Indiana Jones and Pleasure Trip motion pictures. So Warner Bros. studios and Mattel have got down to create a sizzling pink film advertising machine to construct pleasure for the brand new Barbie film opening July 21.

“It is a check case in the way to completely market a film,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore, an organization with experience in field workplace numbers. However even earlier than these numbers are in, he says the movie has succeeded in dominating the cultural dialog with product tie-ins, viral social media buzz and meme-worthy experiences — cost-effective advertising that goes past the normal film promos.

In Malibu, Airbnb has listed “Barbie’s Malibu Dream House,” a real-life three-story mansion painted sizzling pink. There is a swimming pool with a tall curvy pink slide, a glittery out of doors dance ground, disco curler rink, and many closets.

Then there are the 100 or extra model collaborations: from Barbiecore fashions and frozen yogurt, to home insurance policies, to the Barbie Xbox.

Lead actor Margot Robbie has been crisscrossing the globe in traditional Barbie garb for the movie’s promotional blitz. She and the movie’s director Greta Gerwig lead an online tour of the movie’s set for Architectural Digest throughout which Robbie gushes, “Despite the fact that it is pretend, it is lovely, which is like all the things in Barbieland.”

On-line, there’s an AI-powered “Barbie selfie generator” to create viral memes. And at a real-life shopping center in Santa Monica, followers have been experiencing the “World of Barbie,” an Instagram-friendly pop up with a life-sized Barbie camper van, area station and music recording studio.

Like Disney’s Star Wars and Hasbro’s Transformers franchises, Mattel is poised to leverage its mental property right into a cinematic universe. The company’s CEO Ynon Kreiz told Time Magazine, “My thesis was that we would have liked to transition from being a toy-manufacturing firm, making objects, to an I.P. firm, managing franchises.”

NPR reached out to Warner Bros. and Mattel for remark about its Barbie advertising technique, however did not hear again.

The standard knowledge is that if an escapist film concerning the 64-year-old Barbie doll is successful, Mattel’s Hot Wheels, Rock’Em’ Sock’ Em Robots and Polly Pocket could possibly be subsequent.

With its trailers and soundtrack (with songs by Nicki Minaj, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and others), Barbie’s marketing plan seems to be resonating with the culture.

“The zeitgeist is a post-COVID world that appears very scary, at struggle, darkish. And Barbie is the alternative of that,” says Kevin Sandler, an affiliate professor of movie and media research at Arizona State College. “All over the place you look, you see this buy-in from Barbie, whether or not it is on social media or by all these manufacturers. And it most likely makes you actually glad.”

Actually, the Barbie growth appears to be benefiting one other movie premiering the identical weekend; Oppenheimer, concerning the creation of the atomic bomb. Viral memes of the doubleheader characteristic a bright pink mushroom cloud.

“It is Mattel versus the Manhattan Challenge and BarbenHeimer; It’s totally enjoyable,” Dergarabedian says of the mashup. “That simply signifies that that is going viral, and that is excellent news for each Barbie and Oppenheimer.”

However some cynics complain the excess pink Barbie advertising “tsunami” is suffocating. “Is anybody else feeling bullied into being excited concerning the Barbie film?” tweeted Succession actor J. Smith-Cameron.

The movie’s slogan hints on the tightrope it is strolling: “If you happen to love Barbie, this film is for you. If you happen to hate Barbie, this film is for you.” It could possibly be a nostalgic love letter or an ironic wink to these of us who grew up with nonconforming feminist mothers who did not admire blonde, blue-eyed Barbie’s not possible determine. The feel-good trailers present a extra inclusive Barbie world that does not take itself too significantly, with the fashionista actually stopping the dance ground by asking, “You guys ever take into consideration dying?”

Barbie’s critiques aren’t out but, however the film is predicted to be No. 1 on the field workplace subsequent week. So we’ll quickly know if pink actually is the colour of cash.