9 Barbie Selfie Generator

The Barbie movie’s marketing kicked off with a hugely popular filter. Following the initial trailer, character posters were released, giving a full rundown of Barbie’s impressive cast in a stylized aesthetic. Shortly afterward, Warner Bros. released an official filter that allowed fans to turn themselves into Barbie characters with an AI-powered selfie generator. The filter, which can be accessed via barbieselfie, auto-generates editable captions such as “This Barbie is a celeb” or “This Ken is a bus driver.”

8 World of Barbie

Coinciding with the film, Barbie co-producer and toy company Mattel launched the US tour of World of Barbie, an immersive experience. The touring production allows the general public to experience the Barbie lifestyle, entering a Barbie Dreamhouse complete with numerous rooms and areas nodding at the hundreds of careers Barbie has occupied over the decades. The experience includes a Barbie-themed laboratory, fashion runway, music studio, and camper van. Having first appeared in Toronto in mid-2022, World of Barbie actually predates the Barbie movie advertising campaign, but the tour made its U.S. debut in April, tying in with the commencement of the film’s major marketing push.

7 Barbie Read The News

In a nod to Barbie’s ability to do just about anything, the Australian leg of Barbie’s press tour saw Barbie star Margot Robbie act as newsreader. When Australian talk show The Project spoke to Robbie and Barbie director Greta Gerwig about the film in June 2023, their segment culminated with a request for Robbie to read their final, Barbie-related news story. While Robbie didn’t read the story in her Barbie character, she stayed true to the multi-talented spirit of Barbie, reporting the story on the rise of the name “Barbara” with an ease that attracted the praise of the show’s hosts.

6 Bondi Icebergs Club Makeover

Barbie continued its tour of star Margot Robbie’s home country of Australia with a massive makeover of Sidney’s Bondi Icebergs Swimming Club. The Bondi beach swimming pool, home to the famous winter swimmers’ club, saw its exterior extensively redecorated in the Barbie aesthetic, including a repainted pool emblazoned with the film title and release date, as well as pink-and-white umbrellas hearkening back to the Barbie property’s 1959 beach party aesthetic, which Robbie obliged by dressing in a black-and-white outfit reminiscent of her look in Barbie’s teaser trailer.

5 The “Accidental” French Poster

An international Barbie poster attracted a lot of attention when audiences began to notice the wording. Barbie’s French poster, which eagle-eyed fans (via Twitter) have identified as an homage to a classic photo of Barbra Streisand and Elliot Gould, seems to offer a straightforward translation of the movie’s tagline “She’s everything. He’s just Ken”. However, francophones pointed out that the specific phrasing of the French tagline implied a second, more lewd meaning, as described by Twitter Mathilde Merouani:

However, the Barbie movie’s knowing humor casts doubt on the assumption that this translation was indeed an accident. With the film’s trailer featuring a scene of brazen innuendo in which two Kens threaten to “beach each other off,” it’s entirely possible that this “mistake” was yet another canny marketing move from the Barbie team, but this hasn’t been confirmed.

4 Pink Blitz

The Barbie movie has become synonymous with the color pink, with the film going so far as to contribute to a worldwide shortage of pink paint. The film’s marketing has kept up this commitment to Barbie’s favorite color, with numerous pieces of advertising relying heavily on a blitz of pink. In L.A., a bus stop bench became an influencer hotspot after it received a hot pink Barbie makeover. L.A .has also seen several monochrome pink billboards advertising Barbie. They are devoid of any text save for a small release date in the corner. The intention of the billboards is clear: Barbie is pink. Pink is Barbie.

3 Brand Tie-ins

The Barbie movie’s marketing campaign has also featured a vast number of collaborations with different brands. Among Barbie’s brand tie-ins, there is a Barbie-themed Xbox console, a Barbie frozen yogurt flavor at Pinkberry, a Barbie toothbrush set with MOON Oral Beauty, Barbie luggage with Beis and multiple Barbie clothing lines from brands including GAP, Mumu and Target. It’s even possible to buy the roller skates seen in Barbie’s main trailer. It’s no surprise that Mattel, the Barbie toy manufacturer and Barbie movie co-producer, knows a thing or two about merchandising.

2 Barbie Hotel

The Barbie production refused to hold its press junkets in just any ordinary space. As a video from journalist Jake Hamilton reveals, the Barbie team converted an entire floor of a hotel into a Barbie-themed, hot pink landscape. The floor is decorated in Barbie style down to the smallest detail, with rooms complete with pink carpet, pink doors, pink roses, Barbie inflatables, and even a life-sized doll packaging box.

1 The Malibu Dream House

The Barbie movie’s biggest marketing stunt of all has to be the real Malibu Dreamhouse that seemingly appeared from nowhere on the Malibu coast. Fans can even apply to stay in the idyllic, hot-pink mansion for free via Airbnb. The house is complete with an infinity pool, a fully stocked closet, an outdoor dance floor, and a home gym, and guests walk away with their very own set of Ken’s rollerblades and surfboard. It remains to be seen whether the Dreamhouse will eventually revert back to a regular house, or will continue as a destination for Barbie fans indefinitely.

Sources: barbieselfie, @alexandra_adams/Twitter, Airbnb