"2023 is the summer of Barbie"

From Morning Brew, June 27:

Kris Jenner works hard, but Barbie’s marketing team works harder.

On Monday, Airbnb listed a real-life Barbie Malibu Dreamhouse hosted by “Ken.” It’s only available for two one-night stays, but if you’re lucky enough to score one of them, it won’t cost you a dime: “Ken’s thing is beach, not math,” according to a press release.

The Dreamhouse rental is yet another viral marketing stunt for the upcoming Barbie movie, which has cemented itself as the cultural event of the summer. A promotional effort that began in the spring with a selfie generator and a beguiling trailer (what exactly is the plot?) has ballooned to include seemingly infinite partnerships and even a themed boat cruise in Boston, proving that Kris Jenner works hard, but Barbie’s marketing team works harder.

In fact, the hype around the movie has inspired a whole new wave of interior design:

• It’s leading more adults to decorate their homes in Barbiecore, “a palette made up primarily of hot pink, and similarly bold rosy hues like fuchsia and magenta,” the NYT reported.
• According to the Times, searches for “Barbie aesthetic bedroom” on Pinterest jumped 1,135% from May 2022 to May 2023.

The pink fuzz is generating ear-piercing buzz

With every brand under the Malibu sun trying to get in on the Barbie action, Barbiecore is proving to be more than just a color palette. Mattel, the company that launched Barbie in 1959, and its 100+ brand collaborators, are seeing opportunity in seemingly every consumer category:

• For gamers…Xbox is making a Barbie-themed console.
• For style influencers…Aldo is collaborating with Barbie on pink shoes and accessories....

....MUCH MORE

Previously:

New York Fed: The Federal Reserve and Barbie

Here Comes Artificial Intelligence Barbie

The Promise of 3D Printing, Fulfilled: Open source 3D printed medieval armor for your Barbie doll

"Limited Edition Andy Warhol Barbie Hits the Shelves"
From artnet:

The Andy Warhol Foundation and toy manufacturer Mattel collaborated to create the doll.
Photo: via InStyle

And another repost, this time featuring the detective work of Messy, Nessy Chic:

Huh, Apparently The Barbie Doll Began Life As a High-end German Call Girl Named Lilli

Barbie Adds Tall, Curvy and Petite Body Types to its Doll Line
It's about time.

As Mattel rolls out some additions to the Barbie line-up, three new body types, "tall, curvy and petite" along with seven skin tones, 22 eye colors and 24 hairstyles--collectors are calling their banks to confirm their credit lines-- here's some backstory from Messy Nessy Chic:

Meet Lilli, the High-end German Call Girl who became America’s Iconic Barbie Doll

So it turns out Barbie’s original design was based on a German adult gag-gift escort doll named Lilli. That’s right, she wasn’t a dentist or a surgeon, an Olympian gymnast, a pet stylist or an ambassador for world peace. And she certainly wasn’t a toy for little girls…

Lilli on display at the Barbie Museum in Prague

Unbeknownst to most, Barbie actually started out life in the late 1940s as a German cartoon character created by artist Reinhard Beuthien for the Hamburg-based tabloid, Bild-Zeitung. The comic strip character was known as “Bild Lilli”, a post-war gold-digging buxom broad who got by in life seducing wealthy male suitors....

...She was famously quick-witted and known to talk back when it came to male authority. In one cartoon, Lilli is warned by a policeman for illegally wearing a bikini out on the sidewalk. Lilli responds, “Oh, and in your opinion, what part should I take off?”....

....MUCH MORE

Please don't judge me.