Pink tops, cups and even tacos have swept Mexico, as fans celebrated the national release of the eagerly awaited “Barbie” film on Thursday.
The film, starring Margot Robbie as the iconic doll and Ryan Gosling as her boyfriend Ken, has inspired numerous look-alikes at cinemas across the country.
Fans donned all-pink outfits in homage to the film’s aesthetic, also reflecting the “Barbiecore” trend, which became popular on the catwalks of brands such as Valentino in 2022.
Pink cups and popcorn containers rapidly sold out at many movie theaters, to the disappointment of many fans.
It wasn’t only cinemas and the doll’s Mattel brand cashing in on Mexico’s Barbie fever – some enterprising local businesses also found a successful marketing gimmick in dying their products pink.
In the beach resort of Acapulco, Ana Cecilia Ceballos, owner of the “Don Benito” tortillería, started adding beet water to the dough as a natural dye to turn her tortillas pink.
“We started with the idea of offering something different to our customers, in line with the Barbie trend, I love pink and most girls like pink,” she told EFE. “That’s when we started looking for how to pigment the tortilla so that it was that color.”
The innovation was an immediate hit in Acapulco, with local taquerías rushing to buy Ceballos’ pink tortillas, despite them costing an extra two pesos per kilo.
“They just brought us the tortillas and it’s already working really well,” said Julio César, owner of the ‘Taquería Ejido,’ whose business is now selling 150 pink taco orders per night.
“People are accepting it, especially young couples who want to try a different taco. They come already knowing that there is a Barbie taco.”
Ideas for other pink foods such as cheese, bread, cakes and corn have also gone viral on social media.
The “Barbie” film’s plot explores how the doll’s fantasy life gets interrupted by an existential crisis. It has received largely positive reviews since its release, with an average score of 89% on the review site Rotten Tomatoes.
With reports from Forbes, El Universal and Expansion
