‘Barbie’ marketing to be tested as film opens in theaters

CHICAGO (NewsNation) — It’s a Barbie world and we’re all just living in it.

It’s officially “Barbenheimer” weekend. It’s officially “Barbenheimer” weekend. “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” both open Friday in theaters, yet the odds are in favor of “Barbie” winning the box office.

From the shoes to the Whoppers, to Barbie’s real-life Malibu dream house, there’s no escaping the “Barbie” blitz.

The original influencer has Americans seeing pink with all the collaborations.

Ahead of Friday’s U.S. release of the “Barbie” movie, parent company Mattel has created a product marketing blitz with more than 100 brands plastering pink everywhere. Among the many businesses collaborating with the Barbie franchise: Bloomingdales, Crocs, Gap, Aldo, Ruggable and OPI nail polish.

There are pink benches at bus stops and pink clothing displayed in store windows. Microsoft’s XBox has come up with a Barbie console series and HGTV is hosting a four-part Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge. Bloomingdale’s launched a Barbie Dreamhouse popup shop featuring Barbie-themed merchandise at its Manhattan flagship store and at its Century City, Los Angeles, location.

And then there are all the unofficial collaborators trying to grab a piece of the Barbie craze. Restaurants across the country are offering special pink cocktails, while interior decorators are showing options like vibrant pink backsplashes to “Barbiefy” your kitchen.

Even the organization I Support the Girls — a nonprofit that has provided 22 million bras and menstrual hygiene products to homeless people, refugees and immigrants — is creating a social media campaign around menstrual periods using Barbie and having volunteers create miniature packages of Barbie-sized menstrual pads and tampons as teaching tools.

And Barbie’s fans are here for it.

“I grew up playing Barbie in my basement. I would play it every day for hours,” said one fan dressed in pink at the movie premiere.

Another Barbie fan said that every Halloween, she’d ask her mother to dress her up like a Barbie doll.

The reported $100 million marketing budget is expected to help the movie make more than that number at the box office this weekend.

“This marketing campaign, no matter the exact dollar figure, is monumental. And the marketing spend has to be among the biggest ever,” Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian said.

Industry experts say the “Barbie” projections increase every week, and it’s largely due to the masterminds behind the marketing. Some experts say all the marketing beyond the movie is only good for the 64-year-old brand, helping to attract multiple generations of fans.

“I think this is going to be judged as one of the greatest marketing plans in movie history and perhaps even in the annals of marketing itself,” Dergarabedian said.

But “Barbie” has some stiff competition this weekend. In addition to “Oppenheimer,” it will face off against “Mission: Impossible” and “Sound of Freedom.”

The Associated Press and Devan Markham contributed to this report.