Appeal of the "Barbie" movie marketing in the U.S. 2023, by generation

During a late July 2023 survey among consumers in the United States, 93 percent of responding Gen Z adults stated they liked the marketing for the "Barbie" movie, released worldwide earlier that month. Among millennials and Gen Xers, the shares stood at 84 and 77 percent, respectively.

You can watch, you can play

Three weeks after its theatrical release in the U.S., the box office gross revenue of "Barbie" surpassed one billion U.S. dollars. The notable result came from a multi-month-long marketing campaign to promote director Greta Gerwig's movie, where the iconic doll endures an existential crisis. But an almost last-minute timing coincidence became an advantage. "Barbie" premiered in most theaters worldwide on July 21, 2023, the same day the dramatic biopic "Oppenheimer" hit the big screen. Social media anticipated the dispute for the opening weekend box office – a benchmark for the cinema industry – with plenty of "Barbenheimer" memes and posts encouraging moviegoers to watch both films on the same day.

Barbie: from doll to multifaceted brand

Ruth Handler (1916-2002) created the Barbie doll inspired by her daughter Barbara. Handler's husband was one of the founders of Mattel, the California-based toy manufacturer that, despite its initial unenthusiasm for the idea, launched Barbie in 1959. Over six decades later, in 2023, Barbie ranked fourth among the world's most valuable toy brands, nearly 300 million dollars above another of Mattel's hits, Hot Wheels. The manufacturer's toy (and brand) collection pays off. In 2022, Mattel placed fourth in the global ranking of leading toy companies by revenue, with an annual figure exceeding 5.4 billion dollars.