It's Barbie's world, but I refuse to live in it
I hate the colour pink.
There, I said it.
Yes, I’m a woman and know I’m meant to love it, but I don’t.
Therefore it pains me that everywhere I look these days, it’s pink pink pink!
This is all thanks to the ‘Barbie’ movie.
Since the release of the first teaser in December last year, the world has gone Barbie crazy.
Barbie is undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous dolls.
Growing up, all my friends had one and if you didn’t have one, you had to make do with a knock-off.
I was lucky to finally get one for my birthday when I was 8 years old and I absolutely adored her.
I would play dress up, make her little outfits and at some point, like many other girls, I even gave her a haircut.
However it wasn’t too long before the excitement of having one wore off and she was left on the pile along with my other, less expensive dolls.
Back then Barbies didn’t come cheap and these days even the most basic Barbie will set you back at least R200.
I have a 10-year-old daughter who went through her Barbie phase last year and nagged to get one.
However, now that there’s such a diverse range of the famous doll, she didn’t want an original white Barbie with blonde hair dressed in pink.
She wanted one that looks like her.
“Mommy I want the Barbie with my skin colour and puffy hair,” she would ask.
Even though it warmed my heart that she had no interest in the stereotypical Barbie, it made it hard to say no when I discovered that the doll was R500.
Yes, R500. Did it come with a really cool outfit? Yes. Was it able to do anything? No.
Why would anyone want to pay R500 for a doll that doesn’t do anything?
I’m sure that is exactly what many parents are asking themselves right now.
With Barbie now plastered everywhere it must be an absolute nightmare for parents.
The ‘Barbie’ movie is by far the biggest marketing stunt I’ve ever seen when it comes to toys.
Can you imagine how many little girls are now nagging their parents for a Barbie?
And it doesn’t end with the doll itself.
If you haven’t noticed by now, almost every clothing store has been painted pink in Barbie merchandise..
From fast fashion to luxury brands, every store has a Barbie collection. Even Zara launched collection just in time for the movie release.
One simply cannot escape it.
The movie premiered in South Africa on Wednesday and while I haven’t watched it, from what I’ve seen from the trailers, the costume design is phenomenal.
As a person who loves fashion, I can’t take that away from the movie.
However, as a consumer, it’s all becoming a bit much.
Clearly, my pink-hating self is not the target market.
We’ve had months of Barbie mania and all things pink.
Once everyone has seen the much-anticipated movie, it’s going to get completely out of hand.
But it won’t be long until we start seeing Barbie core items being thrown out on sale and disappearing off the shelves as the hype, just like any hype, starts to fade.
I look forward to that day.