Barbie & 'Pink Solidarity': A Cultural Phenomenon or Just Marketing Done Right?

Men, women, and children showed up to theatres in groups wearing pink. Did they spark a new cultural phenomenon?

Has Barbie singlehandedly altered the gendered ideas of pink – or is the ongoing 'pink solidarity' just a clever marketing campaign?

(Photo: Namita Chauhan/The Quint)

Georgina Cabral, a 28-year-old fashion designer, said she chose to wear her "pinkest dress" to watch Barbie at a theatre in Kerala.

"I wanted to embrace my feminine side to the fullest. Most days, I go about my business, trying not to let my girly side out. Because truth be told, no one takes you seriously if you're 'too feminine'. And pink is something that is perceived as girly, though it shouldn't be."

Georgina Cabral

Amil Bhatnagar, a journalist from Lucknow, too, wore a bright pink t-shirt to watch the film. "I don't really see pink as a colour that affirms a particular gender. I have a lot of pink in my wardrobe," he told The Quint.

What has, perhaps, been as fascinating as Greta Gerwig's new film is the sea of people dressed in pink – women, men, and children – floating about in theatres across cities.

In fact, this 'pink phenomenon' has now extended to Barbie-themed events and parties, where the dress code is unabashedly pink.

"It is after a long time that pop culture, sort of, got into a more tangible space where people want to participate. Whether it's wearing black for Oppenheimer or wearing pink for Barbie, there was a certain celebration of cinema," Bhatnagar added. 

Clearly, the Barbie promotion hit all the right notes. Dressing up in pink meant a show of unconditional support for the movie and what it represents. Do we dare say it also unleashed a phenomenon that allows people to be comfortable owning the 'controversial' colour pink – widely associated with 'fragile femininity'?

So, the question now is: has Barbie singlehandedly altered the gendered ideas surrounding pink – or is the ongoing 'pink solidarity' just a complex and clever marketing campaign?

To understand the 'pink phenomenon' better, we must go back to the history books…

The Rebellious History of Pink

In an interview with CNN, Valeri Steele, editor of Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color, said that "pink has always been a colour in transition, and so have the social attitudes towards it."

In the West, pink was closely associated with the aristocracy in the 1700s. European aristocrats, both men and women, wore soft and powdery variants of pink as a symbol of opulence and refinement, according to Steele. 

However, during the mid-19th century, a shift occurred as men in the Western world increasingly adopted dark and sombre colours, whereas women were left with brighter options.

Steele suggests that this marked the beginning of pink's association with 'fragile femininity' and its gradual emergence as a symbol of delicacy and charm. Needless to say, pink was also not considered a 'serious' colour for years to come. 

Interestingly, even Mattel did not use pink packaging for Barbie until the 1970s, though the first doll was released in 1959, the company told Fortune.

(Photo: @skippercollecto/Twitter)

For instance, women from across the United States wore bright pink 'pussyhats' during the Women's March in 2017, but it received widespread criticism from feminists who believed that the "cute pink hats" trivialised the very real issues that women were facing.

Protesters at the Women's March wearing pussyhats.

(Photo: @thisisnotahat/Twitter)

In contrast, the colour pink has been part of women's movements in India – like the Gulabi Gang, popularly perceived as a "female vigilante group" in Uttar Pradesh, which started in 2006 as a response to crimes against women.

Wielding sticks, this group of women takes on men who commit crimes against women, whether it's domestic violence, sexual harassment, or oppression.

(Photo: @womensart1/Twitter)

"Most of the gendered ideas of pink that we [Indians] have today, we have borrowed from the West. I believe things like colours have not really mattered to people in India though misogyny runs deep here. Even our gods and mythological characters are portrayed in bright colours," Ankita Mahabir, a marketing expert and founder of Socially India, told The Quint.

In Rajasthan, for instance, the colour pink is part of both men and women's attire. We have had actors like Rishi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, and Shah Rukh Khan embrace pink, too.

Shah Rukh Khan.

(Photo: Twitter)

In 2022, actor Ranveer Singh, too, attended an event in Mumbai wearing bubblegum pink.

Ranvir Singh wearing a Maison Valentino ensemble.

(Photo: Twitter)

But by then, the colour's connotations had changed. It was considered "bold and unconventional" for Ranveer to appear in bright pink – because it's not really a "man's colour."

What Spurred the Latest 'Pink Phenomenon'?

Speaking to The Quint, brand and business strategy specialist Harish Bijoor said that Barbie's marketing was clever also because it "pushed back" on stereotypes.

"Marketing is always clever. It knows the pulse of society, it reads society, and it offers solutions. Here, the problem seems to be about gender and colour. And the film has pushed back with clever marketing," he said.

What helped was, of course, Mattel and Greta Gerwig's "$150 million budget and a stellar marketing team," Mahabir told The Quint.

"They have leveraged partnerships and collaborations all over the world. And people just wanted to be a part of the phenomenon that most brands were part of. You can even call it a mob mentality."

Ankita Mahabir

Margot Robbie in Barbie.

(Photo: Twitter)

There's also the nostalgia factor for some, Mahabir added.

"The colour pink was fed into people's perceptions. Everyone wanted a piece of the Barbie aesthetic. Barbie's pink Malibu Dreamhouse is back on Airbnb, there was a 3D ad of Barbie in front of Burj Khalifa, and if you google Barbie, you're greeted with pink confetti."

The Malibu Dreamhouse by Airbnb.

(Photo: Mattel)

So, Has 'Barbie' Changed Perceptions Towards Pink?

Bijoor believes that Barbie has "discovered a new era where colour does not define gender. Typically, over the decades, the colour pink has been forcefully representing femininity. I say 'forcefully' because society forces stereotypes. Society genderises colour. Barbie tried to correct this – and I think it's been very successful."

Mahabir, however, said it's impossible to gauge the success of the 'pink phenomenon', "because at the end of the day, the phenomenon was all about a brilliant marketing campaign."

While it was interesting to see women owning and reclaiming the colour and men wearing it without shame, Mahabir said that "we are in an echo chamber. Men who are wearing pink probably don't have a problem wearing pink. Their masculinity is probably not threatened."

She also referred to how Barbie received considerable backlash in India even before its release, as many on Twitter categorised it as "a movie for women," while crowning Oppenheimer as "a movie for men." You can read more about that here.

Mahabir also pointed out that having an actor like Ryan Gosling play Ken – after having played several other masculine characters over the years – is a decision that has worked in the production's favour.

"The pink phenomenon might contribute to changing gender perceptions, but I don't think it is important enough to actually bring about change," she added.

Somya Lakhani, a journalist who watched the film on the first day of its release, concurred, saying: "Barbie was pop feminism at its best. It is marketing at its best. But let's not pretend that it's more than what it is."

"I don't remember the last time I watched a movie where people actually dressed up for the movie. But Barbie, at the end of the day, is a heavily funded production – it's not a crowd-sourced film. And we can purely owe this pink phenomenon it to the movie's marketing, and nothing else," she added.