Come on Barbie Let's Go Airbnb

Using the real world to build fictional ones

Jul 11, 2023

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Barbie is a career woman, no kids. She has like 80 jobs and just added “Airbnb host” to the top of the list. That’s right. Even Barbie loves her passive income streams. She puts the Tiktok-solopreneur-influencer-gurus to shame.

Yes, Barbie’s Malibu DreamHouse will be listed for the second time ever on Airbnb. If your algo hasn’t blessed you, it’s a 3500-square-foot Malibu mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It stands out so much, you could probably see it from space.

With well over a billion dolls sold since 1959, Barbie is the best-selling toy of all time. Her ability to stay relevant across multiple generations is something to analyze all on its own. Today, we will narrow in on this particular marketing play, how it is using the real world for world-building, and the implications of what they do here on other beloved franchises.

But before all that, let’s go party 🎉.

History

In 2009, on Barbie’s 50th birthday, the real-life Barbie Malibu DreamHouse was unveiled. From what I can tell, it's owned by Barbie creator Mattel. Jonathan Adler himself decked it out. It included an Andy Warhol portrait of Barbie that, at the time, was valued at $200K+. It also had a chandelier made up of 30 blond wigs. Photos of the interior were not widely distributed and this event seemed relatively hush-hush.

The outside world got to see a taste of it ten years later when Airbnb put it up for a two-night stay in October 2019 for Barbie’s 60th. Shockingly, she looks the same. The leaps and bounds in plastic surgery are astounding!

It’s a gorgeous property on its own. The amenities make it even better. It has a pink slide from the patio into an infinity pool. It has a roller rink, movie theater and an outdoor meditation zone.

This wasn’t a sweepstakes. The first one to book the property on Airbnb was the one that “won”. The lucky guest got to live there with three guests for two nights. Across their stay, there was plenty of programming. This included a:

fencing lesson from Ibtihaj Muhammad, a fencing champion
tour of the Columbia Memorial Space Center by Aerospace engineer Jill Meyers
hair makeover from celebrity hairstylist Jen Atkin
cooking lesson from chef Gina Clarke-Helm

Fast forward to today, the Barbie Malibu DreamHouse is back up on Airbnb. This time around, Ken is playing host. For that, they redesigned the interior and exterior. The outside went to a bright pink while the interior has a more masculine slant. Cowboy everything. Kenergy.

The experiences are back. According to the Airbnb listing, guests will be able to:

Learn a line dance or two on the outdoor disco dance floor
Perform a sunset serenade with Ken’s guitar
Challenge fellow guests to a “beach off” with plenty of sunbathing and chillaxing by the infinity pool
Take home a piece of the “Kendom” with your very own set of yellow-and-pink Impala skates and surfboard

Because Ken can’t do math, the price for all this is $0.

Bookings for the property open at 10 a.m. Pacific Time on July 17, the same time the movie is released in theaters.

Using the Real World as World Building

Some have written off this Airbnb play as shenanigans. I disagree. This entire marketing initiative is less of a stunt and more Mattel using the real world to build out their plastic-y one. The Barbie brand is “world-building”. If you’re not a fantasy/sci-fi nerd like me, you may not be familiar with the concept. It is a process in writing that Masterclass describes as:

“The writing process that sets up where your story takes place. When you build a world, you include the landscape that your characters will inhabit, the tone of your story, its major preoccupations and themes, as well as the nature of its morality. Worldbuilding lays the groundwork for your characters to develop, providing the stage for where your creations will perform.”

Basically — the atmosphere of the whole place.

The franchises we love like Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings feel life-like because they built compelling worlds. The writers of the books/scripts and the movie set designers did such a good job that we seamlessly and simultaneously both learn and absorb the intricacies of these worlds better than we do our own.

According to Masterclass, worldbuilding generally includes six elements:

This Airbnb post includes all six elements. Let’s unwrap.

Type of World & Environment

Does it take place on our Earth or is it an alternate Earth? What’s the weather like? How do people use the land?

This listing did an excellent job with a sense of place. Aside from the vibrant pictures, the copy further cements the setting with tantalizing descriptions about what to expect in and around the DreamHouse.

Describers like “ultimate oceanfront paradise, with its never-ending sunshine” tells us the type of world we are stepping into along with details of the environment. You can almost feel the sun setting on your skin.

Lines like “beaches as far as the eye can see… Nearby, you’ll find every beach activity you could dream of” introduces the sights and sounds you’ll face when you arrive.

This is a world full of fun, sunshine, and no worries.

Rules and Laws

What is their governing system? Who is in charge?

Every convincing world has some semblance of order. Yes, even the world of Barbie. The rules here may be hard to live by. Ken says: “I live my life by two Bs: Beach and Barbie. And rollerblades if you count that B.”

These details reinforce the feeling that this will be a fantasy world where there is no such thing as a bad time.

History

What is the history of this place you’ve created?

There is even lore behind the property. In the listing, they share that Barbie is out of town and Ken is taking it over. The author used this narrative detail to explain why there are massive changes to the DreamHouse since we last saw it in 2019. They didn’t need to go so hard but are doing it to establish the mansion's history.

Culture

What do the inhabitants of this universe believe in?

The inhabitants of this world care about a few things but care about them deeply—namely, beaches, “cowboy stuff,” guitars, six packs, and rollerblades.

Language

How do the inhabitants communicate? Is there a common tongue?

As with any strong world, Barbie Malibu DreamHouse has its own verbiage. Throughout the post, you will find words like “Kendom” and “Kenergy”. This is deliberate. These seemingly small choices have an outsized impact on world-building. Brands do this all the time,

“To provide customers with a consistent world, you need to have… vocabulary that best represents the values and objectives of your brand. This can go… so far as to shape the way in which customers verbally engage with a brand. If you’re ordering from Starbucks, you have to switch languages…asking for a tall instead of a small.”
-Storysoft

As Starbucks did with renaming sizes, Barbie is adding its own language. Establishing a vernacular makes the world more three-dimensional.

That’s six out of six. That may seem astounding, but they’ve had practice.

Building the Barbieverse

Mattel began crossing over Barbie's universe into our world as far back as 2013. In advance of their new Barbie house toy launch, they listed a version of the Barbie Malibu DreamHouse on the real estate listings platform Trulia for $25M. This building did not exist. Even then, they blended real and fictional worldbuilding elements into this marketing push. For example, the reason Barbie was selling the house is because she is moving into a new home. Also, the real Josh Altman of Million Dollar Listings fame was “hired” by Barbie to list the house. Did Barbie start the metaverse?

Presently, Mattel is weaving the toy brand into elements of our everyday life. They have a partnership with Aldo to sell accessories Barbie would wear. A few days ago, a Barbie-themed cruise took off in Boston. HGTV is hosting its own Barbie DreamHouse Challenge.

Barbie is taking “imagination, life is your creation” to entirely new heights.

Distribution of the Disney Park Experience

Today, if we want to immerse ourselves in a fictional brand we love, we need to fork over thousands of dollars to a theme park.

Mattel is trying to suck you into their world in a new way: the “distributed Disney Park experience”. To be as clear as the DreamHouse pool, this Airbnb isn’t an exhibit or just a Barbie-themed short-term rental. There aren’t bedsheets with her face on them or doll collections on the shelves. The Barbie Malibu DreamHouse is emulating Barbie’s residence as if she was a real person.

At the same time, this isn’t purely amusement like Disney World either. There are no rides or carnivals. This is an immersive live-and-play experience in which you become the toy doll living in Barbie’s cliffside mansion.

While Disney Park is open year-round, this Airbnb has only been rentable twice. Exclusivity demands attention. And the post clearly states this is not a sweepstakes. Whoever books this property first is the one who gets it.

Given the success of this marketing initiative, brands may begin to copy it in one form or another. Regardless of how it takes shape, these immersive experiences will likely remain unique, exclusive, and used as a “hype tool” vs. a stand-alone business.

Of course, only certain brands can do this. This distributed approach will work well for brands that have an aging fanbase that has money to blow. You are likely a fan of one or more of them. Some that come to mind:

Star Wars
Star Trek
Harry Potter
A Game of Thrones
The Marvel Universe
The Lord of the Rings

As a lifelong Star Wars lover, I would love to go to a bar dressed up like the Cantina from Mos Eisley with all of its multi-colored liquid glory. As a Harry Potter fan, how wicked would it be if we were invited to a private dinner in the Great Hall?!

This only works if it feels real, not kitschy. Ironic how if it feels too plastic, it won’t be fantastic.

Christopher Nolan, if you’re reading this, please don’t try to do such an immersive experience for Oppenheimer.

Thank you to Julianna and Kaley for getting me to where I need to go.

Thank you to Atul for supporting me.

Thank you to the first 100 subscribers.

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Come on Barbie Let's Go Airbnb

Using the real world to build fictional ones

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