Recalling the Super Bowl ad’s impact
In the midst of Barbie mania following the film’s success, Mortgage Professional America reached out to Casey Hurbis, Rocket Mortgage’s chief marketing officer, to gauge his reaction to the resurrected frenzy centered on the iconic character.
“I mean, Barbie mania yeah, but Barbie has been an iconic brand for half a century,” Hurbis said during a telephone interview with Mortgage Professional America in describing how the creative team came to pick the popular doll – with narration by actress Anna Kendrick – to help spread its corporate message. “To see the mania of the movies is exciting and shows the staying power a powerful brand like Barbie has,” he added, noting a 99.9% awareness quotient for the toy.
Unavoidably, Hurbis has been approached by people asking him if he feels some responsibility for having heightened Barbie’s awareness even further since the Super Bowl ad ran, he said.
“Everywhere I’ve been going, everyone has been asking me ‘did you, meaning Rocket, have a part in kicking off that mania?’” Unabashedly, he’s happy to take at least some partial credit for Barbie’s bolstered fame. “Barbie is one of the most iconic brands, and it’s gone from Super Bowl to movie, and we’d like to think we helped Barbie gain even more popularity through the Super Bowl – and you’re seeing that continue with the movie.”
To be sure, the movie’s popularity shows no signs of slowing down. Just three weeks into its run, the blockbuster Barbie movie, written and directed by Greta Gerwig, has tallied $1.03 billion in receipts, according to CNN Business. While surpassing the billion-dollar mark is astounding in itself, early returns yielded something of a harbinger tracking its success. According to Forbes, the movie grossed more than $155 million in the US box office in its opening weekend – including a massive $70.5 million on its opening day.
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