This paper analyzes Mattel's 2015 Moschino Barbie 30-second television advertisement, which gained widespread media attention for being the first Barbie commercial to feature a boy. The paper begins with a brief overview of Mattel as a company, noting its major brands, revenue figures, and distribution relationships. It then describes the advertisement's visual and audio elements, identifies the persuasive techniques employed — including aspirational luxury branding through the Moschino co-brand and inclusive gender representation — and evaluates the ad's effectiveness for both its child end-users and adult buyer audiences. The paper concludes that the spot successfully achieved two strategic goals: strengthening the Barbie brand's glamour and expanding its perceived target market.
Mattel is a producer of children's toys, including the well-known industry brands Fisher-Price, Barbie, and Hot Wheels. The company has strategic partnerships with several other major brands such as Disney, WWE, Nickelodeon, and Warner Bros. The company did nearly $6.5 billion in revenue in the last fiscal year and turned a profit of just over $900 million. Nearly half of its revenues come from international markets.
The Barbie brand is the most important for the company, with just over $1 billion in annual revenues. The company's marketing is focused around the end-of-year period, when gift-buying for children reaches its peak. Mattel utilizes most forms of media for its advertising, including traditional 30-second television spots. The company spent $733.2 million, or 12.2% of net sales, on its marketing efforts in the last fiscal year (Mattel 2014 Annual Report). In terms of distribution, its three largest customers are Walmart, Toys R Us, and Target, worth a combined $2 billion, or one-third of total company sales (Mattel 2014 Annual Report).
The advertisement under analysis is the Moschino Barbie 30-second television spot. The spot features two girls and a boy playing with the product — a Barbie doll co-branded with an Italian fashion house. The spot was released in November 2015, distributed internationally, and received significant press attention because it was the first Barbie ad to feature a boy. The ad accumulated over 3 million views on YouTube and received coverage from major media outlets in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the UK. The product itself was a limited-edition Barbie that retailed for $150 and sold out within days of its release, suggesting that the ad was more about strengthening the overall brand than selling this one limited-edition item.
The ad features three children — two girls and a boy — all highly styled in terms of hair and clothing, presumably to reflect the Moschino aspect of the co-branding. The doll is shown with a house and an extensive wardrobe that includes Moschino-branded products. The spot was filmed in a studio with no background, placing full visual focus on the children and the toys. The music is loud and upbeat, with a female vocalist singing lyrics about the product. The children mainly face the camera and express enthusiasm for the toy. The standout line of copy is the boy proclaiming, "Moschino Barbie is so fierce." Visually, the high-fashion styling of both the toys and the children is the dominant takeaway.
The product is aspirational in nature. The Moschino Barbie was a limited-edition item retailing at $150 — far above the price of a standard Barbie — and was not sold through Mattel's normal distribution channels. A reasonable interpretation is that the ad sought to create aspirational associations for the broader Barbie brand. The use of an Italian fashion house — Moschino is a luxury brand based in Milan — creates a specific brand association, positioning the Barbie character as fashionable and glamorous. This impression is reinforced by the extensive styling applied to the child models, all of whom appear in professional hair and designer clothing. The aspirational element is effective: it creates the impression that an ordinary Barbie, in its standard non-$150 form, can be just as fabulous.
The inclusion of a boy is what generated the ad's media publicity. This is a more subtle form of persuasion: it signals that Barbie's target market is broader than young girls alone and that boys can play with Barbies too. This depiction affirms to the audience that such play is acceptable, which should have a positive effect on brand association. That element likely created a greater stir among adults than among children, as it challenged adult perceptions of who the product is for. By reshaping parental perceptions, this element works to expand the target market among the actual buyers of the toy.
"Ad effectiveness for child and adult audiences"
The strategy of the ad was twofold. First, it was designed as an aspirational ad to strengthen the glamour of the Barbie brand. Second, it was designed to expand the target market by communicating to buyers something Mattel already knew — that boys play with Barbies too. Ultimately, the ad conveyed both messages effectively. It was clearly targeted at children and reached them with its brand-building content. At the same time, the publicity it generated allowed the ad's message to be framed in a way that adult buyers could engage with as well, making the spot effective for that audience. There is little doubt that this ad achieved its goals.
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