Barbie Ad Final

Sandhya Senthilkumar; period 3 online
BARBIE ADVERTISEMENT
The “Barbie girl” song performed by Aqua was a jam that almost everyone grew
up listening. But many of them sung along to the song without actually paying attention
to the meaning of the lyrics. Certain phrases in the song like "I'm a blond bimbo girl in a
fantasy world," “Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky panky,” and “Come jump in, bimbo
friend, let us do it again,” certainly can’t be ignored. Basically, in the entire song, Barbie
conveys to Ken that he can do anything to her from dressing her up to making her to beg
on her knees. The parts of the lyrics like “I’m always yours,” “You can touch, you can
play, if you say, I’m always yours,” and “Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you
please,” makes it seem like Barbie is a possession of Ken and that she doesn’t have any
desires, feelings, or a purpose of her own. But that is the type of world that she is content
with- “Life is plastic, it’s fantastic.” From the lines, “I’m a blond, bimbo girl, in the
fantasy world/ Dress me up, make it tight, I’m your dolly/ You’re my doll, rock ‘n’ roll,
feel the glamour in pink/ Kiss me here, touch me here, hanky panky,” it is evident that
they are talking about Barbie being a means of relief for Ken’s sexual desires. With
“Barbie” saying that Ken can undress her everywhere, dress her up however he wants and
can literally do anything to her, she is trying to say that she is his puppet. This song is
overall the sexualized version of Barbie performed by Aqua. With Barbie being a role
model for many girls around the world, if they listen to the song while being aware of the
meaning of the lyrics, they will only come to learn about the stereotypical view of
femininity and start to replicate it. These girls will start to view the “Barbie World’ as the
ideal world full of surprises. This song will definitely have a negative impact on them,
making them to think that the purpose of a woman is to let herself be manipulated by the
men around her and have no ambition or purposes of her own in her life.
In the 1959 Barbie commercial, more than the visuals, it is the lyrics of the song
that needs to be noticed. "Barbie's small and so petite/Her clothes and figure look so neat
… someday I'm gonna be exactly like you. Until then I know exactly what I'll do. Barbie,
beautiful Barbie. I'll make believe I am you." The playback singer sings that she is one
day going to be exactly like Barbie who is beautiful and petite with a neat figure. With
Barbie being a doll with a slim waist and body, and the song that conveys of wanting to
be exactly like Barbie, girls start to feel insecure about their body and develop a desire to
achieve a body like hers. More than the doll itself, it is the lyrics of the song that is going
to provoke them into looking at Barbie from a different perspective.
The Totally Hair Barbie doll was one of the most successful dolls among the other
types of Barbie launches. The reason for its success was that it targeted the girls while
emphasizing on hair play, which girls love. Regarding its impact on girls, it is evident on
what it may do to them: make them style their hair. The line in the song of the
commercial that shined the brightest was, “Totally Hot, Totally Cool, Totally hair
Barbie.” With Barbie being Totally hot and cool because of her cool hair styles and hair
accessories, girls will want to replicate it and develop a desire to style their hair with
similar accessories so that they can also look “hot and cool.”
While growing up, both boys and girls tend to replicate what they see. With the
attractive commercial of Barbie having fun with her friends by having a slumber party,
making burgers, and playing in the pool in her Dreamhouse, the young girls come to
think that that is the ideal type of relationship one should be having with their friends and
start to replicate the same activities. While not just playing with the Dreamhouse, the
girls also develop the desire to live the same lifestyle as Barbie. They begin to lean
towards living with pink objects and accessories just like Barbie’s dreamhouse and
theme.
The commercial of the professor version of the You can be Anything Barbie line
depicts a young girl imagining herself in the shoes of professor Barbie. The “You Can Be
Anything” tag line of Barbie was meant to have positive effects on girls and empower
them. The You Can Be Anything dolls depict Barbie to be a person who has the capability
to achieve anything that she desires. These dolls introduced so many new careers to the
young girls. Without just depicting Barbie to be a fashion icon who dresses up often, this
launch of Barbie proves to be worthful. Through these dolls, girls can come across the
message that gender doesn’t matter in taking any types of jobs and that being successful
is not just for boys. With Barbie dolls being proven to have an influence on girls, this can
turn out to be a positive one. It spreads the message of following your dreams and
achieving your goals. One main reason as to why Barbie has been depicted to have so
many careers is to convey that women have choices.
From the start, Barbie dolls were criticized for the influence they had on girls due
to their perfectly proportionate body. But after the decision taken by Mattel to remodel
the body of Barbie, they came out with three new body types along with the original-
petite, curvy and tall. But they didn’t stop with just that. They also introduced new
ethnicities, body tone, and hairstyles. This was a massive risk taken by Mattel. But
looking at how fast the world is changing and how open the younger generations are in
accepting new things and ideas, this remodeling was definitely needed. This launch of
Barbie is definitely a step towards change. With Barbie always being depicted as
someone who is perfect in all aspects, this launch can clear those misunderstandings and
people can come to know how diverse Barbie and humans in the real world are. These
dolls can help girls to come across the fact that no one is perfect and that everyone has
their own unique feature. This launch can make girls love themselves for who they are
and not make them to try to be like “Barbie.”

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Sandhya Senthilkumar; period 3 online

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