Barbie-mania turns Leeside pink
Since its release last weekend, the 'Barbie' movie has been shattering records worldwide. Cork, too, has caught the pink fever with thousands of fans queueing up to see the film across the city and county.
'Barbie' raked in an impressive €2.1 million in its first three days at Irish cinemas, making it the highest-grossing opening for any movie this year. Internationally, 'Barbie' earned €302 million globally in its first weekend.
According to Tracey O'Brien, Regional Manager for the Gate Cinemas, 'Barbie' has been wildly popular since its release. “We have 3 cinemas here in Cork; North Main St, Mallow and Midleton and we essentially had sold-out shows for its entire opening weekend. It’s pretty unprecedented,” she said.
Despite the abundance of pink-clad ladies in attendance, Tracey noted that Barbie's appeal transcends generations, drawing a diverse audience that includes many men as well. “There’s been such a mix of customers. Teenagers, twenty-somethings, older couples and people of retirement age coming in. It’s about a 60/40 split between women to men,” she said.
Asked why she thought the 'Barbie' movie had become such a phenomenon she explained that there were a number of contributing factors. “The marketing campaign was so clever I think it tipped everyone over the edge,” she said. “Also with social media things grow fast and people decided ‘We are all getting on board the Barbie train. But ultimately, the film is just great fun to watch, said Tracey.
“It’s the perfect summer film, it’s joyful. People go in looking forward to it and come out with a bit of hope in their hearts and a smile on their faces. It’s positive and uplifting and that’s what you want in the summer. Having said that, 'Oppenheimer' did fantastically well too and it couldn’t have been more different! We’ve had quite a few people doing the Barbenheimer double bill,” she said.
The impact of the 'Barbie' phenomenon extends well beyond the cinema, as evident from the many events that have taken place in Cork in recent days, with more scheduled to come. There will be a Business of Barbie event on Friday 28 July at The River Lee Hotel from 10.30am where, according to organisers, attendees will discover ‘what we can learn from the woman and the brand.’ A Barbie Party is planned in the in Carrigaline Court Hotel on Sunday 20 August and the Marina Market held a hugely popular Barbie roller disco last Saturday.
It appears that the 'Barbie' juggernaut shows no sign of stopping, but what about where it all started, the humble doll that inspired generations of girls, is she still as popular as ever? Mary Creedon of Mary’s Toymaster Ballincollig and Macroom says that while sales of Barbie haven’t matched other dolls in recent times, she expects that to change.
“Over the years they have modified Barbie, and updated her. There are Barbie career dolls now and Barbie with a wheelchair. But her popularity had slowed a little bit. The LOL dolls and the Rainbow High dolls would be as in demand,” she said. "With the movie we do expect sales of Barbie to pick up though.”