Does it come in pink? Carsales.com.au records a spike in Barbie-themed car searches

Pink is the new black in car showrooms across the country, as Australians go crazy following the release of the Barbie movie, new data from Carsales.com.au reveals.

It’s official. Australians have gone crackers over the Barbie movie – and Carsales.com.au says there’s been a spike in searches for pink cars.

Given that Australians are likely to hold on to a car for up to seven years before trading it in, choosing a colour based on a movie fad seems a bit risky.

But Carsales, which will report its full-year financial results on Monday, said it has experienced a near 40 per cent surge in pink car sale searches during July. The top three most searched cars to mirror Barbie’s world were the Toyota Yaris, Fiat 500 and Mitsubishi Mirage.

While these cars are known for their economy – handy when the cost of living is surging – it’s not just pocket rockets that people are looking to paint pink. Even Jeep has decked out its Wrangler model to match the Mattel doll’s livery.

Overall, searches for pink vehicles on the online auto classified site vaulted 36.68 per cent last month.

Toyota Yaris tops the list in pink car searches.

Under-pressure retailers are jumping aboard the Barbie bandwagon to sell everything from traditional Barbie dolls to pyjamas, perfume, smartphone cases and even a pink Barbie hamburger, as the movie of the year turns into the retail sensation of the year and marketing juggernaut.

For Australia’s $400bn retail sector, the runaway Hollywood hit, starring and co-produced by Aussie actor Margot Robbie, is emerging as a handy sales driver just at a time when-cost-of living pressures, rising interest rates and skyrocketing rents are squeezing household budgets.

Piggybacking off the movie makes sense, given it has already topped $1bn in global box-office receipts, becoming the first US film directed by one woman, Greta Gerwig, to reach that milestone.

As of last Sunday, the movie has grossed about $1.03bn overall in domestic and international markets, making it one of only about half a dozen films since the pandemic to gross $1bn in ticket sales. This compares with Christopher Nolan’s World War II drama Oppenheimer, grossing $552.9m globally.

The success of Barbie, alongside Oppenheimer, has been a rare bright spot for Hollywood amid continuing disputes with labour and a shift in consumer viewing habits which has led many people to stream movies at home.

A pink Jeep Wrangler Unlimited.

Only five other films have surpassed $1bn in box-office sales since the start of the pandemic, according to Box Office Mojo. Those include The Super Mario Bros. Movie which crossed $1bn in box-office receipts earlier this year, along with Avatar: The Way of Water, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World Dominion.

While movie merchandise has largely been the domain of toy aisles or fast-food restaurants, such as McDonald’s Happy Meals, Barbie has spread across other retailers from Coles to Peter Alexander.

Whether it is a hangover from the dark days of pandemic lockdowns or a new 2020s phenomenon, a Just Group spokeswoman believes the doll Barbie – which was launched in 1959 – is timeless.

“Barbie has reminded us that pink never goes out of fashion, and it’s beautiful to see this colour lighting up shopfronts all over the country,” she said.

“From our littlest customers discovering Barbie for the first time to the big kids caught up in the Barbie nostalgia, it seems like everyone is enjoying Barbie mania.”