Barbie TM. Från Plastic Fantastic till Empowerment Chic: En Semiotisk Resa genom Barbies Reklamuniversum
Abstract
Exectutive summary
Barbie is more than just a toy, she is a phenomenon. Consumers love her as much as others hate
her. It has been argued that the doll is damaging young childrens views of themselves and setting
them up for a future of striving to achieve impossible beauty standards. However, Mattel, the
founder and owner of the Barbie doll, claims that she was made for children to be able to play
with a doll they can imagine themselves as, which they claim is more empowering than playing
with baby dolls. They assert that the girl can only play as a mother to the doll, but with Barbie
the options are endless. Barbie can be a dentist, a teacher or even an Astronaut. And so can the
girl playing with her.
The purpose of this study is to semiotically analyze the messages in Barbie commercials from
the first ever commercial for Barbie from 1959 to one of the latest commercials in 2022. Women
have been represented in different ways in commercials through out the years and different
waves of feminism have swept the Western world during the last century. The study will discuss
whether this will have any correlation with how Barbie commercials are designed.
The method used for this thesis is a qualitative semiotic analysis with focus on denotations and
connotations aimed at video commercials. An analysis chart with denotative and connotative
questions was put in place to further guide the study in the intended direction. First, the videos
were analyzed denotatively to illustrate what was happening in the commercial. Second, the
denotative analysis was examined connotatively to provide depth to the message of the
commercial.
We analyzed six video commercials for Barbie from Mattel. The commercials were published in
1959, 1961/1962, 1984, 1985, 2010 and 2022. The only focus in the commercials from 1959 and
1961/1962 is on how Barbie looks and how beautiful she is. The message to young girls is how
they should aspire to look like Barbie and be glamorous just like her. The message in the
commercials from 1984 and 1985 convey the message that girls can do anything. The
commercial encourages girls to focus both on their looks and career. The commercial from 2010
is similar to the commercials in the 80s, with focus on both career and looks. The last
commercial from 2022 is focused more on inclusivity and doesn't encourage girls to look a
specific way.
The result of the study is that Mattel has changed their marketing approach for Barbie according
to societal norms at the time. With feminist waves and movements the company has adjusted to
the evolving views of the woman's purpose. The messages sent to girls in the commercials differ
significantly from 1959 to 2022. The societal norms follow the same trend.
Degree
Student essay
Collections
View/ Open
Date
2024-03-04Author
Dandanell, Elsa
Jansson, Maja
Keywords
Barbie, Barbie commercials, Barbie Semiotics, Feminism, Uppfostran Genus, Semiotik, Genussystemet
Series/Report no.
1248
Language
swe