With the ‘Barbie’ movie, how the brand is attempting a makeover for the modern age (2024)

Skip to 2021, when Barbie posted annual sales worth more than $1.5 billion, up from around $905 million in 2015. It was a turnaround on which Mattel had pinned its hopes, following a rebranding of sorts.

It included expanding the range of body shapes the dolls were available in, along with a full-length feature movie with star actors (Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling) and an Oscar-nominated director (Greta Gerwig). What led to these attempts and how have they fared so far? We take a look.

Who created Barbie?

As of 2023, Barbie is a 64-year-old brand. The story of its creation was one of a mother looking to create a doll made of durable material for her daughter, instead of the paper she dolls that she saw her playing with. That woman was Ruth Handler, who, along with her husband Elliot Handler, helped in the founding of the toy manufacturing company named Mattel. She was inspired by the design of a European doll named Bild Lilli, which was based on a comic strip featuring an adult woman.

The first Barbie doll that was inspired by Bild Lilli, the European doll that inspired Ruth Handler to create the Barbie doll for her daughter, and Margot Robbie in a teaser of the Barbie movie. (Photo via Mattel website/ Warner Brothers via AP)

Her creation went commercial in 1959, and so, a toy empire’s foundations took shape, with sales worth billions of dollars in more than 150 countries. Mattel would later go on to launch other toys, such as Hot Wheels, which are miniature cars modelled after real cars, and Ken, a male companion to Barbie. It would also acquire popular games, such as the card game UNO. However, Barbie remained its most successful product.

One possible explanation may be that at the time of its creation, Barbie was a unique option in the market. “Unlike play with a baby doll – in which a little girl is pretty much limited to assuming the role of Mommy – Barbie has always represented the fact that a woman has choices,” wrote Handler in her memoir Dream Doll: The Ruth Handler Story.

She added that Barbie also did not have to settle for being only Ken’s girlfriend, with options of outfits worn by professionals like nurses, stewardesses, or singers. This aspect helped her catch on with young girls, “who would one day make up the first major wave of women in management and the professions”, she wrote. Their mothers, who were initially opposed to the doll because of her mature look, would also come to appreciate the options on display for the doll – never available to them.

Although, she noted that it was all a “great irony”, since her daughter Barbara (whose name was given to Barbie and later shortened) wanted a mother who was always available and at home. “Though I dearly loved my children… the staying home part just wasn’t in my makeup,” Handler wrote.

Why was the Barbie doll criticised?

By the 2010s, business was not as booming as it once was, because of a variety of reasons. Children no longer flocked to toys like dolls as the only form of entertainment, with electronic gadgets, TVs and mobile phones bursting onto the scene. There was also some competition to Barbie in the form of dolls like Disney’s princesses range, sold by the toy company Hasbro.

Beyond the US, Barbie was banned for short periods in many countries. India didn’t see their entry into the market until the 1991 economic reforms that allowed for liberalisation. Russia banned it in 2002, with authorities claiming it stimulated “early sexual interest” among young children, accoring to aForeign Policyreport. Her appearance also led to a ban in Iran. “The next year, the Saudi regime also moved against Barbie, banning what itcalled “Jewish Barbie dolls” whose “shameful postures” carried a dangerous “symbol of decadence to the perverted West,” the report added.

There was also competition with other toys and dolls, given that Barbie’s figure and cartoonishly unrealistic body proportions led to the argument that it would present an unhealthy inspiration for young girls playing with them. Despite Handler’s championing of choice, Barbie marketing often seemed to play into stereotypes, such as women being obsessed with fashion and shopping. As profits dropped in the early 2010s, rebranding had become necessary.

How did Mattel manage a turnaround?

Richard Dickson, president and chief operating officer of Mattel, told Fortune in a 2023 interview that rebranding the public perception of Barbie and re-designing the doll were the pillars of their approach. The second aspect included releasing dolls who were as diverse as real humans. Some had prosthetic legs, wheelchairs, and a doll with Down Syndrome – all in a variety of skin and hair colours.

To mark the introduction of “curvy”, “short” and “tall” dolls, Barbie was on the cover of Time Magazine in 2016 with the quote, “Now can we stop talking about my body?” The same article also noted that “Barbie sales plummeted 20% from 2012 to 2014 and continued to fall last year.”

We proudly add three new body types to our line. Meet the new dolls. https://t.co/JDeqzI59nX #TheDollEvolves pic.twitter.com/IJVcVhfPkL

— Barbie (@Barbie) January 28, 2016

According to a Bloomberg report, in 2018, new Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz also made changes to how things were done – reducing the manufacturing capacity of the company, forming a film department and enlisting social media influencers. Multiple shows have been in development since – including the upcoming Barbie movie.

Mattel also released seven male dolls modelled after members of the South Korean band BTS. While many fans criticised the design aspect, they nevertheless contributed to a bump in sales, according to a Reuters report. “The story around BTS shows how we’re able to capture cultural trends and commercialise them,” CEO Kreiz told Reuters.