Barbie Teaser Trailer: Fans Point Out A Missed Opportunity For An Iconic Moment
In 1997, the Danish pop group Aqua released "Barbie Girl," a song that celebrates the frivolity and carefree nature of the Barbie brand. Although the music has come under fire for its lyrical content over the years, it is still directly linked to the famous toy brand for many. The release of Greta Gerwig's "Barbie," set for summer 2023, has many fans pondering why the tune isn't in any of the film's marketing clips.
On a thread on the r/movies subreddit discussing the film's second teaser, U/rumpusrouser commented, "Was anyone else expecting a "You wanna go for a ride?" After the "Hi Ken!," which refers to some of the spoken lyrics in the song. This led U/DoctorWho_DMC to share how "Barbie Girl" will not feature in the movie or promos primarily due to the troubles with the band and Mattel.
In 2022, the lead singer of Aqua confirmed this news. No official reasoning for its exclusion was given, though it presumably has something to do with the issues Aqua faced with the toy brand in the late 1990s. But fans cannot help but point out the missed opportunity of not having the track create an iconic moment in the movie.
Fans are sharing their frustrations with Mattel for excluding Aqua's song from film
One of the "Barbie" production companies is Mattel Films, which has a long and troubled legal history with the band Aqua due to their objections to some of the song's lyrics and for infringement on their patent. The toy manufacturer sued the pop group for these reasons and lost the case in 2002. The tune has remained popular, with over 1 billion views of its music video on YouTube.
Fans mourned the music's absence from a film based on a brand they associate with "Barbie Girl." Redditor U/BenevolentLlama shared, "This is tragic news, I desperately wanted a trailer with a stripped-down moody rendition of the song." U/OedipusFlecks added how fans knowledgeable in video editing software were likely to make altered clips with the song featured throughout.
Other viewers spoke about Mattel's long-simmering dislike of the pop melody, with U/dragonphlegm observing how the company likely ensured that "Barbie Girl" was nowhere to be found in the feature or its promos. U/baybaycaykes also vented their annoyance with the brand. Although Aqua's hit will not play in "Barbie," its influence on the doll franchise in fans' minds is still felt over a quarter of a century later.