A Barbie fever is raging in the world. On Friday, the long-awaited film hits the cinema screens. The Barbie fever has reached Oslo. Yesterday there was a pre-premiere at the Colosseum cinema. Photo: Tom Balgaard / news With that, it joins the growing series of “brandopics” – i.e. films and series about brands. “Brandopics” last year Barbie Tetris Air (about Nike Air Jordan) Flamin’ Hot (about Cheetos crisps) The Playlist (about Spotify) Super Mario Bros. The film Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber (about the taxi service Uber) Made in Finland (about Nokia) Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves And these are on the way… BlackBerry Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story (about the cookie Pop tart) The Beanie Bubble (about the toy Beanie Babies) Ferrari Uno Has Hollywood run out of ideas? – The theory is that now people have used up everything from superheroes and popular books, so they have switched to these brands, says TV and film expert Gry Cecilie Rustad. Gry Cecilie Rustad is a film scholar. She says Barbie is the very hero of the new film. Photo: Tordis Gauteplass / Tordis Gauteplass Nostalgia and capitalism She points out that it is often familiar and beloved products from childhood that are made into films: Nike, Tetris, Cheetos … And now Barbie herself. – These are products that most people have a nostalgic relationship with, she says. Cheetos crisps got their own movie this summer. Photo: Ap Rustad refers to “brandopics” as a tribute to consumption and entrepreneurship. – It is very American and capitalist. It is often the businessman who is the hero, with the exception of Barbie where it is the toy itself, she says. Matt Damon is the business hero behind the Nike shoe Air Jordan in the movie “Air”. Photo: Ana Carballosa / Ana Carballosa/Prime Video Film journalist and reviewer Einar Aarvig has a theory about why Hollywood is so fixated on products. – It is about a somewhat uncertain market, perhaps. That you therefore bet your cards on the safe, well-known brands, he says. Young people accept “sellout” Barbie manufacturer Mattel has made over a hundred collaborations in connection with the film: clothes, make-up, shoes and a “Malibu Dream house” for rent on Airbnb. You can buy a night here in conjunction with the Barbie movie. Photo: Reuters On pink carpets around the world, actress Margot Robbie has posed in dresses identical to the ones real Barbie dolls have worn throughout the ages. Mattel has plans to film all the toys it sells. But that doesn’t bother the audience, believes Aarvig. – There has been a generational change with an audience that is less afraid of what in the old days would have been seen as shameless and a “sellout”, he says. Actress Margot Robbie on the pink carpet. Photo: AFP Trond Blindheim is a marketing expert at Kristiania University College. He calls the Barbie marketing “extremely effective”. – But it is something you should pay more and more attention to, he says. Art or advertising? Blindheim points out that product placement has always had a place on the movie screen – like when Tom Cruise popularized Ray-Ban sunglasses with the movie Risky Business. Tom Cruise popularized Ray-Ban in his time. Photo: Reuters – But it didn’t interfere with the action in the film, he believes. Now the product is the action. Is it art or is it advertising? – It is hidden advertising, there is no doubt about it. According to the definition, it is pure advertising. Marketing expert Trond Blindheim believes that “brandopics” are hidden advertising. Photo: www.mh.no And it sneaks under the radar of many, says Blindheim. – Advertising, entertainment, games and everything else is mixed in a kind of stew. It is difficult for the public to distinguish the ingredients from each other. But the public will probably eat this brand stew. The Barbie movie is predicted to be a huge hit.
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Art or advertising? – news Culture and entertainment
