Absolutely no movie fan can ignore this year’s new film “Barbie”, Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”) – and probably no one who isn’t actually interested in cinema either. Because the advertising drum is being beaten so powerfully and creatively that the film is on everyone’s lips even before it opens on July 20, 2023.
In Malibu you can book a holiday in a pink Barbie house, on the toy shelves you will find everything your heart desires in terms of merchandise, from brightly colored inline skates to small Barbie cars, and of course there are also lots of funny videos, trailers and posters on the internet and on house walls. But advertising is even smarter and more subtle!
“Elle peut tout faire. Lui c’est juste Ken”
In France, a poster has already received a lot of attention and has even become a viral hit on social media. The simple and very clever reason: ambiguity!
In the US, ‘Barbie’ posters read, ‘She’s everything. He’s just Ken”, we read in Germany “She is everything. He’s just Ken” and in France? It reads, even at first glance completely innocent: “Elle peut tout faire. Lui c’est juste Ken”. Translated, these phrases mean: “Barbie can do anything. He’s just Ken.” But the second sentence has a second meaning in French – and it’s pretty slick!
The word “ken” popularly means “to fuck” in French. And this is by no means a code or anything like that, but pretty much every young person who speaks French should know what Ken can do according to this one. That’s what the French verb “sait” (“he knows how”) means, which sounds the same when pronounced “c’est” (“he is”). So “He’s just Ken” becomes “He just knows how to fuck.” Loosely translated, the “Barbie” poster says that Ken is only good at fucking.
On Twitter, this ambiguity, which was of course quickly noticed in France, generated a lot of enthusiasm and funny tweets that the creators of the poster celebrated:
Brilliant marketing or supervision?
What seems like an accident at first glance is probably rather ingenious marketing. It is not for nothing that they say that sex sells and that ‘Barbie’ will not become a pink film dream for children, should have become clear at the latest with the first trailer. The American industry magazine has Warner Bros. asked for an explanation of the alleged poster faux pas and whether the “Ken” ambiguity was intentional. The answer:
“The speculation surrounding ‘Barbie’ marketing shows that the imminent release of the film is generating a lot of attention and excitement in France.”
While that’s not a concrete answer to the question, it should be proof enough that the (French) marketing department of Warner Bros. know what they are doing…
That’s what ‘Barbie’ is about
Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) live in Barbieland and really have no problems. Everything is where it should be, the haircut is perfect, the sun is shining and the pool is always clean and blue. However, when Barbie suddenly realizes that life is finite, her equally impeccable friends become agitated.
Barbie is clearly too eccentric for Barbieland and is therefore banished to the real world. There she not only experiences crazy adventures, but also realizes that perfection is not everything. She returns to Barbieland to revolutionize the plastic world. Always by her side: Ken.
Greta Gerwigs “Barbie” will run in German cinemas from July 20, 2023.