Moschino Barbie: Is Mattel Making Millions Teaching Your Kids to be Gay?

As a marketer I like to look at Google Trends and YouTube (Google hot videos) trends to see what is popular in the moment. I warn you, this can be both a depressing and shocking experience. Google Trends and YouTube trends are a reflection who we are. It tracks what YouTube videos we watch and share and what we search for in the Google search bar.

Google Trends is Collectively Reading Our Minds

In a way Google Trends is collectively reading our minds. It is actually a quite honest reflection of who we are.

When searching YouTube Trends  I found this video called Moschino Barbie getting millions of views and was one of the hottest videos. I had no idea what Moschino Barbie was. Not a clue. I guess I do not belong to the targeted demographic. Here is the video.

The video shows a little boy with a hair style just like the creative director of Moschino Jeremy Scott saying “it’s so fierce” with an obvious effeminate tone. Basically you have a kid dolled up as a little gay boy using gay stereotypical language to sell Barbie dolls to other little boys.

It is working. Mattel has sold out the the $150 collector’s edition doll sold out within an hour of release last week.

I am sure the little boy is not naturally this way. He was coached and primped up to look the stereotype.

Let Kids Grow Up. Do Not Force Stereotypes Down Their Throats

Personally, I was offended. Leave the kids alone. Let them grow up. If they happen to be orientated that way love them and accept them but do not try to shove gay stereotypes down little kid’s throats.

From a marketing perspective though it is a huge success. Take a look at the stats for the YouTube video. I am using a neat Chrome plugin called vdIQ to get these stats.

The video is getting 25,000 views an hour! The interaction is through the roof as well. There are those like me who are a bit offended at having gay culture marketed to kids and there are others who think this video is breaking new ground tearing down stereotypes. This controversy is really giving this video some buzz.

So what have we learned about marketing from this video? Controversy sells! If you can write articles and/or do videos about controversial subjects in your niche this is one element that can help drive more traffic to your website.

Controversy Sells Especially Gay Controversy

Plus if you find popular trends you can write articles about these trends from the perspective of your niche to get more traffic. That is what I am doing here. My blog is about marketing so I have looked at the marketing perspective of the controversial video.

Please let me know your opinion in the comments area.

Here is my video response to the Moschino Barbie video.

P.S. I just discovered something curious about the Moschino Barbie controversy. I was looking for other articles about this subject and I wanted to find articles that were both for and against. I have not been able to find one anti Moschino Barbie article.

YouTube Comments Are Very Much Mixed RE Moschino Barbie But Journalists Are Almost 100% Pro Moschino

However, the YouTube comments are very mixed. Is their a liberal bias in the media? Well, I just found one. I believe the YouTube comments more accurately reflect our culture since it is a mix of people from all walks of life. However, journalists 100% dig the Moschino Barbie concept.

I Think We Found Our Liberal Media Bias.

No problem I guess. As the late George Carlin said “More P%$^&y# for me.” I miss him. George Carlin was so fierce!

In any case here are some other articles about the Moschino Barbie. I start with the SF Gate article (San Francisco Based) no surprise there.

At last! A boy stars in a Barbie commercial

POP MOM DAILY: NEW MOSCHINO BARBIE COMMERCIAL FEATURES A LITTLE BOY FOR THE FIRST TIME

There’s a Boy in This Barbie Commercial, and He Is a Sign of the Girly-Capitalist End Times