HISTORY

• Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
• Barbie was named after Ruth Handler’s daughter, Barbara, and Ken after her son, Kenneth.
• She is from (fictional) Willows, Wisconsin, where she attended high school.
• Barbie’s official birthday is March 9, 1959, the day she was unveiled to the toy industry during New York Toy Fair.
• Barbie first appeared in her iconic black-and-white striped swimsuit.
• Barbie was joined by Ken in 1961.
• The first Barbie doll was sold for $3.00.
• The first Barbie commercial aired during the Mickey Mouse Club in 1959.
• Barbie doll’s signature color is Barbie Pink (PMS 219).
• Barbie stands 11.5 inches tall.
• The best-selling Barbie doll ever was 1992 Totally Hair™ Barbie, which featured floor-length hair.

CAREERS

• Barbie has had over 250 inspirational careers including astronaut, pilot, firefighter, journalist, and entrepreneur to name a few.
• Barbie traveled into space in 1965, four years before man walked on the moon.
• In 1992, Barbie ran for president for the first time and has run in nearly every election year since. In 2016, she ran with the first all-female ticket.  
• In 1973, Barbie saved lives as a surgeon, at a time when very few women were in the operating room.
• In 1985, she took to the boardroom as “Day to Night” CEO Barbie, just as women began to break the glass ceiling.
• To encourage more girls to explore the STEM field, Barbie has been a computer engineer, video game developer, Mars explorer, and robotics engineer.

ICON

• It takes a professional staff of top fashion designers, makeup artists, and the most elite couturiers–more than 100 people in all–to create a Barbie doll and her fashions.
• Barbie has been a muse to many artists over the past six decades, including Andy Warhol and Peter Max.
• Twiggy was the first celebrity to have a doll in her likeness.
• Oscar de la Renta was the first designer collaboration in 1985.
• The #1 honor from the Barbie brand is to be immortalized in doll form. The brand has honored role models from ages 6 to 99.
• In 1997, the hit song, “Barbie Girl,” by Aqua topped the charts.
• In 2014, Jeremy Scott’s Moschino show was inspired by Barbie, complete with her dream wardrobe.
• Barbie has fans of all ages. The National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention has been driven by doll clubs across the country for over 25 years.

POWER

• Barbie is the most popular fashion doll ever produced and the No. 1 fashion doll property
• A Barbie Dreamhouse is sold every two minutes and was first introduced in 1962.
• Barbie is the most diverse fashion doll on the market.
• More than 100 dolls are sold every minute
• Barbie is sold in 150 countries worldwide.
• Barbie has products in over 50 categories, including food, fitness, and clothing.
• The Barbie brand has over 99% brand awareness globally.
• The Barbie YouTube channel has over twenty million global subscribers and 23 billion minutes of content watched, making Barbie the #1 girls’ brand on YouTube.
• Barbie Apps average more than 7 million monthly active users.
• Barbie has a powerful social media presence with over 19 millions followers across platforms. Barbie is the #1 toy brand is social conversation.

CONTENT

• @barbiestyle launched in 2014 and quickly reached over 2 million followers – it is one of the fastest growing fashion Instagram channels to date.
• Barbie has released over 30 entertainment titles.
• More than 151 million minutes of content has been watched on the Barbie YouTube channel. 
• In 2015, Barbie launched her first video blog (vlog) on YouTube which propelled the channel to the #1 doll brand on YouTube.
• There are over 18 billion minutes of Barbie user-generated content created each year.
• The Barbie Movie, Mattel’s first major theatrical release, became the global cultural phenomenon of 2023. The movie was a showcase for the cultural relevance of our IP, our ability to attract and collaborate with top creative talent, and our demand creation capabilities at a global scale.
• Not only did The Barbie Movie capture the hearts of audiences worldwide but shattered multiple box office records while surpassing $1.44 Billion at the global box office and seeing Greta Gerwig make history as the first woman to reach this milestone as a solo director.
• In 2023, Barbie The Album hit 3 billion streams and received 12 Grammy nominations