‘Barbie’ fans horrified by 2,000-foot marketing stunt
It was a giant step for the “Barbie” marketing team.
Fans on Twitter went wild after Warner Bros. released a massive version of the iconic Mattel doll wearing her black and white bathing suit and sunglasses on Monday.
The video, which has since received nearly 410,300 views, shows the doll ripping open the plastic cover of her box as she climbs out and strikes a pose in front of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which has been dubbed the “world’s tallest building” standing at 2,722 feet.
The virtual doll, the latest in several marketing ploys for Greta Gerwig’s highly-anticipated film, is pulled from the teaser trailer released in December 2022 featuring Margot Robbie, who plays the title role, in the same suit.
“The reason people think we spent so much is that it’s so ubiquitous,” Warner Bros. president of global marketing Josh Goldstine told Variety. “Because it pierced the zeitgeist, it has the impression that we spend so much.”
“In fact, we spent responsibly for an event movie,” continued Goldstine.
The Post reached out to Warner Bros. for comment.
“If I saw this in real life it would create a panic attack,” tweeted one user.
“This f–king ad actually looks terrifying I would’ve cried,” said another.
“If I saw this in real life I think I’d go into cardiac arrest,” commented a third person.
“Brilliant, genius #Barbie marketing! Never been done as well as THIS,” commented Perez Hilton
Other Twitter users found the ploy not so fantastic.
“That’s cool and all, but let’s take a moment to realize that this technology is what the powers that be will use to fake the aliens narrative and deceive people into a peace treaty with demons or some other nefarious scheme,” said one user.
“Tell me again why the studios can’t afford to pay the writers,” slammed one Twitter user referring to the ongoing writer’s strike. “But they can do this s–t and build a literal Malibu dream house?”
The film follows Barbie (Robbie) and her supposed boyfriend Ken (Ryan Gosling) as they travel into the real world to understand what it means to be a real human.
“Barbie” also boasts a star-studded cast including Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon and Dua Lipa, America Ferrara, Simu Liu and others.
The Gerwig-directed film was released last weekend and immediately soared to the top slot of the US box office, raking in $22.2 million in preview ticket sales on Thursday, followed by another $48.2 million from the movie’s debut Friday. The weekend total, a record-smashing $162 million, landed Gerwig, 39, the honor of the highest first-weekend record for a film directed by a woman.
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