Barbie's Insane Marketing: Becoming a Billion Dollar Movie

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[@TLDRbusiness]

Hey! A number of people seem surprised that we didn't mention Barbenheimer in this video. It's a totally fair point and most certainly did push people to the cinema. I decided not to mention it in this video because I wanted to focus on the marketing side of things, and while this was a very good promotional tool, it's hard to argue that it was explicit marketing from Mattel or Warner Brothers more of just a very successful meme. Additionally we did discuss it in the Nebula video with Patrick so I felt it wasn't necessary to bring up here too. That said, I do understand why people are confused by it's omission, and I probably ought to have at least mentioned it - Jack

[@rzpogi]

Except Barbenheimer is the major marketing tool that drove people to cinemas to watch both.

[@SEAZNDragon]

@@rzpogi But it wasn't one made up by either studio. Remember studios are not in the business of promoting other studio's movies. It was an organic meme that rose up from the internet like a wave and Barbie and Oppenheimer just rode it.

[@almighty3946]

@@SEAZNDragonyeah but when it did come out they leaned into it heavily

[@marilynlucero9363]

@@SEAZNDragonwithout the memes of Barbenheimer, wouldn't have seen the movie.

[@user-nt2pe1yy2u]

3:51 conshuming 4:17

[@superkooper6594]

On the social media side of things, it also helped that Barbie coincided with the release of Oppenheimer, creating the meme that was Barbenheimer and spreading more free advertising

[@pachukete]

Not a complete coincidence

[@TombRaider_Remastered]

Barley helped it at all. Social media influencers on tiktok making dances to the Barbie album (and making Barbie album become the best selling film soundtrack of 2023) helped Barbie tremendously. Oppenhimer actually almost killed Barbie’s opening in Japan 🇯🇵. Oppenheimer tremendously hurt Barbie while Oppenhimer being connected to such a MASSIVE ip and literally a pop cultural icon helped him.

[@stefanusunicorn7483]

The same release date with Oppenheimer also pumping up the hype . The 2 movies represents 2 extremes - a happy without worries life and a depressing down-to-earth life filled with regret. This contradiction serves as a hillarious humor for adults and the internet, hence tons of meme anywhere (free advertising lol).

[@Marylandbrony]

Although i think it only really benefits Oppenheimer. There are probably more people interested in seeing Oppenheimer, a prestige film for the meme than Oppenheimer viewers seeing Barbie to “Feel good”. Not to mention more people seeing movies in general or showing of Barbie being sold out so some people may have seen Oppenheimer out of curiosity.

[@aidenwinter1117]

I'm surprised that you didn't mention the Barbenheimer phenomenon, which was basically how everyone knew about both films

[@mrhand3350]

It really sensitive issue in Japan because atomic bomb and ignore Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-Bomb

[@isabellaswan9579]

opp only got known thanks to barbie while barbie was going to be known by everyone whether you like it or hate it

[@mindybee96]

I legitimately laughed out loud when Jack couldn't get through "Let's go party". Glad you acknowledged the objective ridiculousness of it 😂😂

[@me0101001000]

The Marvel Cinematic Universe walked so Mattel Cinematic Universe can run. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.

[@mitch8072]

i dond get it

[@helloiamchuck]

Glad to see the return of this series. I really enjoy TLDR using its explainer format to talk about things like how a movie like Barbie becomes so prominent in our media and cultural landscape, and the business that is involved.

[@ljphoenix4341]

Jack calling himself a Barbie was amazing, never thought I'd see the day

[@jhonklan3794]

Barbie capitalized on its IP better than any film in history. Im not entirely convinced that its message necessarily helped it more than it hurt it. Its set design and production were also impeccable.

[@stefandebeer9375]

**Casually ignores the fact that Barbie released on the same day as Oppenheimer and the amount of tiktok edits/fan-made posters combining both movies, giving both movies free marketing** 🙄

[@lordbusiness-qs4ok]

I mean it is “tldr business”, but they really should have pointed it out, that’s like the reason for most of the people I know who watch both movies

[@me0101001000]

That was a consumer-led effort, not a business effort. Now, if the company DID covertly initiate this, that would be interesting.

[@TombRaider_Remastered]

@@lordbusiness-qs4okOppenhimer almost killed Barbie’s opening in Japan. And also got Barbie’s social media account MASSIVE backlash. Barbie soundtrack being the best selling film soundtrack of 2023 (#2 on the billboard 200) helped out Barbie. Tiktok and KZbin social media influencers doing barbie world, dance the night away trending dances got more eyes on the movie.

[@daviddavidsonn3578]

people use shitok? for real???

[@jhonklan3794]

im mean sure buts not clear that was intentional douche.

[@emysimo]

Barbie went from a doll to an Action Figure in the Mattel cinematic universe 💖🎀🌸💕💗💟🦩🩰

[@RenDen-bp3rq]

Cant wait for mc donalds to make nuclear burgers for oppenheimer

[@amyx231]

If those rollerblades weren’t so pricy, I’d totally get them.

[@thetrison]

Thanks for giving me the TLDR video I never thought I needed. This is the best TLDR Business content to date. Also, I never thought Jack was such a cinephile... 😉

[@hendrx]

I honestly only watched the movie with my buddies for the memes.

[@jtgd]

Tbh that’s probably half the reason people saw it. Memes

[@facoulac]

My lawyer advised me to not comment on this.

[@anttikalpio4577]

You have same lawyer with Trump?

[@me0101001000]

@@anttikalpio4577 I was thinking Colleen Ballinger

[@jtgd]

@@me0101001000but he didn’t make the worst possible decision when not listening to his lawyer 😊

[@L0rdOfThePies]

They didnt tell you not to sing about it though, did they?

[@may.2112]

i think the point about the merchandise being all-encompassing is a great point, it made me think about the way evangelion merchandise has been in japan, where you can quite literally live off of evangelion-themed merchandise. in any case i love this channel. always clicking the notification for these

[@alexevans8170]

Don’t forget that Batman (1989) was the absolute lodestar of this kind of marketing explosion and 100% coverage. It was the first time anyone had really seen this stuff happening with a movie - after that, yes, people tried to redo this consistently in the 90s, and Disney was the most successful. But so many failed to capture that same lightning in the bottle - like Dick Tracy almost immediately afterwards….

[@davidbruce6414]

It all started with star wars back in the 70s

[@molotovgirl555]

I was so excited to see Dick Tracy, I remember seeing it at the movie theater and it just wasn’t even close to the same quality as Batman. Now I’m upset all over again how bad of a movie it was. 😆😭

[@eris9062]

My favourite part about this is I heard almost nothing about this movie except through memes, and even then, it was pretty limited, I hadn't seen any of those clips until now and I don't even recognise most of those brands (although me being Australian probably doesn't help in that regard).

[@authenticbitterleben7434]

Same for me. While I did see one Trailer, I searched it out myself after the memes caught my interest. Nothing but memes

[@jonunciate7018]

I never thought I'd be talking about Barbie as a grown man with other adults.😂

[@daviddavidsonn3578]

how about talk about the inflation? or the unemployment rate? 🤐🤐🤐🤐

[@hamada3ido125]

I love BSN segment, truly the advertisment.

[@kingace6186]

Honestly, the Barbie Brand is so huge and powerful that this billion-dollar Barbie movie isn't very surprising to me.

[@Connie_TinuityError]

No it is surprising because what other Barbie movies besides this one managed to have a billion dollar gross?

[@jessy1982]

@@Connie_TinuityError What other movie was released in cinema?

[@TheFourthWinchester]

@@jessy1982 exactly

[@JimmieLong-g1c]

I did not see even a single bit of Barby branded items at any point and had no idea there was a Barby movie until videos on KZbin reviewing it.

[@Fan_of_Ado]

This is strange. I only heard about the Barbie movie yesterday when MatPat did a video on it.

[@ChineseKiwi]

Down under in Australia we had the burger chain ‘Grill’d’ launch a better official Barbie pink burger and meal than the named Burger King one. It even had a pink bun!

[@Dyl_Evs]

Would be nice for you to look at how R* has changed since they released GTA 1 way back in the 90s cuz now something has happened and I wanna know

[@VaradMahashabde]

Putting the mid roll ad after you mention the mid roll ad was great

[@matiascastro957]

The gritty hot-wheels broke me

[@Spacemongerr]

Well stop eating toys you find on the beach then

[@mightygregdoge]

I honestly had no idea about most of this merch.

[@tfl.8248]

This video really weirds me out. I genuinely heard and saw absolutely nothing about about Barbie (or Oppenheimer for that matter) before it released. The first I heard about it was a friend asking asking the group chat if anyone wanted to go and see Oppenheimer, or Barbie, about a week before the releases. Yet after the releases, all I've heard is how big they are and how massive the marketing campaigns were. I'm not a hermit by any means, and I use social media, but I heard absolutely nothing about these films even on KZbin or Instagram. It's baffling how it completely skipped me 🤣 Neither are films I'd be particularly interested in, but you'd have thought I'd have seen *something*.

[@aaaroon6044]

Take a shot every time Jack says Barbie

[@od9694]

The Barbenheimer memes most have also been brilliant for Oppenheimer

[@mrhand3350]

Barbenheimer is making joke on Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivor

[@od9694]

@@mrhand3350 yes suppose hadn't really thought about it

[@od9694]

@@mrhand3350 not the film makers fault they didn't promote it

[@rearea260]

everything listed here only appeals to people who have already a certain affinity to barbie or at least arent repulsed by it but the whole barbenheimer ordeal brought attention to people who would have never considered watching it, especially men

[@vesislavazheleva9977]

In my opinion theres no amount of money spend on marketing and promotion that can save a sinking movie. Barbie is a great, amazing, fantastic movie hence all the following success.

[@Hellismary]

The real question is can Mattel truly do the same with its other “properties” , I’m thinking this is lightening in a bottle for them.

[@remenir97]

Ben Shapiro is not happy.

[@me0101001000]

Is he ever happy?

[@remenir97]

@@me0101001000 well I cannot imagine if he cannot get his wife wet.

[@greygust3936]

​@@me0101001000no

[@kingace6186]

I hope I can expect more videoes from this channel in the future.

[@almighty3946]

Barbenheimer. Hello? HELLO?!!! Jack? Ben?!! TLDR?!!! Smh 🤦‍♂️

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

What if Durex partnered...

[@samuxan]

There's one key aspect of this mkt camping that has boost it popularity and wasn't mention here. The contrast media is making between this movie and Oppenheimer, a lot of talk is about the opposition or overlap between the 2 potential audiences. a dual choice that makes a person choose to go to the movies when otherwise they would have watch neither

[@fb150185]

Loved the video. Though Barbenheimer should have been mentioned. It was a big part of promoting the movie/s. And I gotta say, I guess it's because of where I love but until seeing this video I had no idea about all the Barbie products. I'm actually sad, some seemed cool ha! Plus I think the main promotion of Barbie is that it's Barbie. It's been around forever, everybody knows Barbie, no one needs to sell it to you.

[@Alfonso88279]

I watched the movie and it reminded me a lot to Everything Everywhere all at once. It's a lot of crazy stuff with an interesting message behind that we have seen very rarely on mainstream cinema. I liked it a lot. Far from a perfect movie, some very cringey dialogues and I didn't like the acting of the mother and the daughter but I liked it a lot anyway. The only ad I saw for Barbie was a trailer when I went to watch Guardians of the galaxy 3. And I didn't like it. I thought it looked pathetic. But, the good words I heard about it convinced me to watch the movie later.

[@thesupremeidiot9870]

they were very good at marketing

[@simstander5471]

Go woke go broke

[@DataBasedTrader]

Barbie is a movie about a dude who lead a revolution and a coup d"etat but could escape the friendzone

[@skateata1]

I didn't like how crazy they went with feminism like the long monolog at the end, but the rest was great

[@benknowles9633]

Love the humor ❤️

[@TAT4guitar]

TLDbaRbenheimer is here bois

[@TheBlur182]

The video is hard to listen because of the way you finish your sENTENCES

[@Ynhockey]

Usually when I see an ad or a trailer for a movie, there is at least a part of me that wants to go watch it, even if I don't think I'll really like it. There is just enough content there to be curious about what actually happens in the movie, or to see specific actors, etc. Barbie is one of the first ultra-popular movies where this has not been the case. It just doesn't seem like an interesting movie. I hope it doesn't lead to too many copycats in the same genre.

[@liamcollins9183]

7:47 send a few of these to Ukraine, 😂

[@Phil_AKA_ThundyUK]

I'll tell you why it did well - one reason : It's different. People are fed up with the same recycled CRAP that keeps getting put out and this film did well in SPITE of its somewhat woke agenda. The problem now is we'll have umpteen clones of it, all worse.

[@kingejiro]

Shows how gullible humans are, but great content as always TLDR

[@86ms]

nice vid

[@mitch8072]

mattel is to late with hotweels Cars could have been hotweels.

[@TheCentristChad]

Ryan Gosling saved the movie

[@sakkra83]

Soo much pink..... I lost my appetite.... 🤢

[@greygust3936]

TLDR is kenough

[@doncarlodivargas5497]

Yesterday: no-one knew what a woman was, not even professors in universities Today: everything is pink, from pink toothpaste to pink sportcars

[@dexterdextrow7248]

Its strong message? Really? You jest?

[@SupermillionVisuals]

Wow

[@deepwoodguy2]

Perhaps "Bud Light" should have hired the team that thot of all that Barbie merch...Then maybe they would not have gone belly up......👍👍

[@ymeynot0405]

+

[@explodingwolfgaming8024]

Commenting 4 algorithm

[@baahcusegamer4530]

Don’t forget people just wanted a movie that wasn’t visually dark.

[@Observer-O]

The set design was quite impressive indeed.

[@DirtySheriffx]

I did not see even a single bit of Barby branded items at any point and had no idea there was a Barby movie until videos on KZbin reviewing it.

[@almighty3946]

Barbenheimer. Hello? HELLO?!!! Jack? Ben?!! TLDR?!!! Smh 🤦‍♂️

[@whodatboi2567]

One of the most recognizable toy brands of all time + a quirky, surrealist take on such a recognizable brand + a star-studded cast + a highly respected, critically acclaimed director + the marketing mentioned in this video + the meme factor of Barbenheimer + an underserviced female demographic being catered to

[@teodorar.6468]

Barbie's marketing team adopted a very "aggressive" approach but they really made sure that regardless of your age, interests, geographical location, preferred means of media, etc you will hear about this movie

[@jessy1982]

"If you love Barbie, this movie is for you. If you hate barbie, this movie is for you." Brilliant trailer lol.

[@lilytea3]

0:52: 💼 Barbie's success at the box office is attributed to its extensive marketing campaign. 3:58: 🎥 The marketing campaign for the new Barbie movie was extensive and included brand deals with various companies. 6:04: 🎀 Barbie's marketing campaign includes numerous brand deals and collaborations, embracing her over-the-top and surreal image. 9:06: 🎀 The Barbie movie created a social media frenzy and brand deals, leading to high ticket sales and merchandise purchases. 12:15: 🎥 Mattel wants to replicate Barbie's success by making more movies based on their toys, but they will be standalone and not part of a cinematic universe. Recap by Tammy AI

[@jayymorris5285]

Oppenheimer's strategy was even more genius, release at the same time as barbie and use meme power PLUS Barbie's marketing to self promote!!

[@almighty3946]

Barbenheimer. Hello? HELLO?!!! Jack? Ben?!! TLDR?!!! Smh 🤦‍♂️

[@almighty3946]

Barbenheimer. Hello? HELLO?!!! Jack? Ben?!! TLDR?!!! Smh 🤦‍♂️

[@almighty3946]

Barbenheimer. Hello? HELLO?!!! Jack? Ben?!! TLDR?!!! Smh 🤦‍♂️

[@santiagoalcantara3806]

How much Wagner brothers paid you?

[@auldfouter8661]

There's no way I'll be going to see Barbie in the picture house , but I love how much it's triggering Tucker Carlson and Ron Desantis.

[@princewellidk]

Shut Up Woke Boy

[@almighty3946]

Barbenheimer. Hello? HELLO?!!! Jack? Ben?!! TLDR?!!! Smh 🤦‍♂️

[@chat-1978]

On which marketing bucket would this video fall in? I'm not making fun and seriously askingbg there was no promotion.

[@EuroExpert_]

Please, do more TLDR Business