The Barbie marketing campaign is truly extravagant, extending beyond the movie itself. With a lavish Malibu Barbie dreamhouse and an abundance of pink, it goes beyond mere film promotion. While the movie had a budget of $145 million, rumors suggest that Warner Brothers rolled out an additional $100 million specifically for the marketing campaign, leaving no expense spared. That means the movie spent almost half of The Flash’s budget which cost $200 mill to make, on marketing itself, and deservedly so, as the Barbie team decided to take things to the next level.
Taking the approach of enveloping everything in pink, ranging from Barbie-branded cups for serving drinks in the movie to Barbie Hot Wheels and UNO cards, the marketing campaign has certainly gone out of hand very quickly. However, it appears to be yielding positive results, leaving fans wondering how far is too far.
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Barbie Marketing Cost Half of The Flash’s Budget
Amidst the Oppenheimer vs Barbie debate, fans cannot help but notice everything being turned into the iconic hot pink and pastels around them, that played a very significant part in many people’s childhood. It is now being estimated that the movie is spending almost half of the fortune spent to make The Flash only for the insane marketing campaign which is an extra whopping $100 million on a budget of $145 million. And it’s working, as people certainly cannot keep shut about the movie. This also makes Gerta Gerwig one of the few female directors to make a movie with such huge figures, especially a sum that reaches nine figures.
That’s a fantastic budget # – very workable re getting a profit.
(Although I suspect WBD spent at least $100m on marketing)
Still, #Barbie is poised to do terrific business & Greta Gerwig will be a director who can responsibley deliver! https://t.co/ldvC4x6lzu
— Grace Randolph (@GraceRandolph) July 14, 2023
While not officially confirmed, there are speculations that Mattel, the brand behind the famous doll, has also a vested interest in promoting the movie to boost doll sales. It is rumored that 100 dolls are sold every minute, resulting in an impressive annual figure of 58 million dolls sold. Undoubtedly, the Margot Robbie movie is expected to further contribute to the increasing numbers.
The Barbie Marketing Campaign Has Officially Gone Off the Rails!
The team clearly took the “It’s Barbie’s world, and we’re just living in it” approach very seriously. If one were to follow the timeline, the campaign kickstarted last year with some “leaked” pictures from the set of the movie, which ultimately took the internet by storm, slowly and steadily preparing the audiences for the things that will follow. Since then the brand collaborations took things to a whole new level. From Barbie x Cotton On to Barbie x Airbnb, the world around has slowly been turned into a world where “life in plastic is fantastic“.
The movie is also strategically capitalizing on its full potential by coinciding its release date with the highly anticipated Christopher Nolan movie Oppenheimer. This timing and sheer contrast of the two films add an extra layer of significance to the movie’s impact. The impact of both films was also intensified by TikTok trends and heated debates on Twitter, to the extent that “Barbieheimer” merchandise has officially become a significant phenomenon.
The estimated opening day projections of both movies provide further evidence supporting the aforementioned claims, as the Barbie movie has already outperformed Nolan’s film, achieving double the size of the opening box office. Thus, it can now be officially said, whether one likes it or hates it, the movie is going to be a hit, that’s for sure.
Barbie hits the theatres on the 21st of July along with Oppenheimer.
Source: Twitter
