Sathya Tadinada

Period 3

5 December 2020

Barbie Advertisements: An Analysis

The Barbie doll is one of the world’s best-selling toys, with over a billion dolls sold in

1993 and two dolls being sold every second around the world. However, the typical Barbie is not

the most realistic doll on the market. If she were a real-life person, Barbie would be a 5’ 9”

person with an 18-inch waist, 33-inch hips, and a BMI of 16.24 (putting her in the anorexic

range). This portrayal of a “typical” woman, when seen by young girls (aged 3-12),

unintentionally set a standard for how women are supposed to exist in society.

Back in 1997, a musical group by the name of Aqua created a song based on the doll,

titled “Barbie Girl.” It became a successful song, topping the charts in most continents, but that

popularity came with a lot of influence over society’s standards for men and women. To start off,

the song constantly comments on how Barbie is meant to be dressed up and played with however

the user wishes. “Dress me up, make it tight, I’m your dolly / Make me walk, make me talk, do

whatever you please.” This depiction of Barbie plays heavily into the narrative girls grow up

with. They grow up thinking that they, too, need to act like Barbie by being fashionable and

getting cast into a submissive role. In addition to that, the song implies that women should be

physically attractive but not necessarily an intelligent person. “I'm a blond bimbo girl in a fantasy

world / Come jump in, bimbo friend, let us do it again …” By listening to this song about

Barbies, young girls think they need to act like Barbie does (fashionable, submissive, attractive,

not smart) and further deepens this societal standard for women.

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 Mattel, Inc released their first Barbie commercial in 1959. Similar to Aqua’s song, this

commercial is a large influencer of how society views the roles of women. The advertisement

remarks on the physical figure of the doll. “Barbie, small and so petite / Her clothes and figure

look so neat.” This leaves the impression on girls that they should strive their best to have as

small and skinny of a figure as Barbie does (towards the end of the commercial, it even states,

“Someday, I’m going to be / Exactly like you … I’ll make believe that I am you.”) As stated

previously, her real-life proportions put her in the anorexic range, so this dream for young girls is

unrealistic and unsafe. Also, the video shows several Barbie dolls with the aforementioned body

type. This is another way how the Barbie icon has shaped how girls grow up in our society.

A new Barbie doll was released in 1992 (and with it, a new commercial from Mattel).

This new ad featured a doll that was similar to previous iterations but what made it unique was

its exceedingly long hair. The hair would reach down to Barbie’s toes and she came in two

different models, blonde and brunette. While this commercial might not seem as influential as it

is just a commercial, it is still effective at sending a message to girls. The lesson that girls

subconsciously draw from this is that hair that is either brown or blonde makes a person more

attractive and “better” than other hair colors. These Barbie dolls that were only sold with those

two colors do not account for the wide spectrum of hair colors prevalent in our society today.

This perception that only two hair colors are better than others is a message being taught to

young girls, who will embrace this value for the rest of their lives.

Barbie’s Dream House was the latest addition to the Barbie lineup, and as usual, Mattel

created a commercial to advertise the product to kids and adults. This house has a wide variety of

amenities, but interestingly, everything that the Dream House has to offer can be grouped

together in one category. When describing everything that Barbie can enjoy in her house, it says,

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“Slumber party / Movies with friends / Sizzling burgers / Pool fun never ends.” All of these are

activities that are done at home. Everything that Barbie is able to do with the house is fun and

games, without any emphasis on real world tasks. This could give girls the impression that as an

adult, your job is to stay and have fun at home (without going outside and doing other activities).

I believe this advertisement also reaffirms the stay-at-home wife gender role that is prevalent in a

lot of households today.

Lastly, Mattel released an advertisement that talked about a girl’s potential to do

whatever she wishes (while using a Barbie doll). This is a step in the opposite direction for

Mattel, after 50+ years of emphasizing specific desirable aspects of a woman, they now stated

that gender standards should not hold a child back from accomplishing their dreams. “When a

girl plays with Barbie, she imagines everything she can become.” This approach shows how

Mattel might have realized the traditional mindset they were imposing on the kids and were

doing their best to fix that error. Compared to the first advertisement in 1959, this commercial

incorporates a lot of “progressive” values that were accepted by society that promote equality

among both sexes. This is how Mattel created a commercial to progress beyond the 20th century

gender standards that were present for so long.

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