In what surely must be the only time a toymaker has sued a record company, historians ROSS FITZGERALD and DICK WHITAKER recall the time when Barbie’s owner set out to defend her honour.
With little doubt, the most successful commercial toy doll ever made is the celebrated Barbie Doll, first launched by the American company Mattel in 1959.
Through many years of clever marketing, the Barbie brand has become immensely popular around the world, with a wide variety of Barbies made available, together with a large range of clothes and accessories.
Barbie also had a male companion called Ken and the entire arrangement was marketed as a sparkling and wholesome experience for young girls, typically in the age group from 3 to 12.
The enormous success of the Barbie brand also attracted attention in other ways. In 1997, the Norwegian dance music group Aqua, in conjunction with Universal Music and MCA Records, put together a novelty song, Barbie Girl, which was a parody of a day in the life of Barbie and Ken.
Aqua consists of four artists, guitarist Claus Norreen, Søren Rasted on keyboards, and vocalists René Dif and Lene Nystrøm. In addition to their on-stage skills they were talented musicians and composers, and they combined with producers Johnny Jam and Delgado, to write “Barbie Girl” in 1997.
The inspiration came from Søren Rasted when he attended a kitsch-themed Danish exhibition that was largely centred on Barbie Dolls and their impact on the toy market.
Aqua then brought two Danish directors on board, Peder Pedersen and Peter Stenbaek, to take care of the music video, seen as a vital part of the endeavour.
It was centred on a catchy tune, loaded with raunchy double-entendre lyrics and accompanied by a video that depicted Lene Nystrøm as Barbie and René Dif as Ken.
As with most novelty pop songs it was expected to achieve modest success. But against all expectations, “Barbie Girl” rocketed up the charts, becoming a number one hit for three weeks in a row in both the UK and Australia.
It also reached number seven in the US Billboard Hot 100, thereby joining the big league of pop music and ultimately selling more than eight million copies.
The lyrics were clever but raised a few eyebrows with their content:
I’m a Barbie girl in a Barbie world
Life in plastic, it’s fantastic
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation
Come on Barbie, let’s go party.
I’m a blonde bimbo girl in a fantasy world
Dress me up, make it tight, I’m your dolly
You’re my doll, rock and roll, feel the glamour in pink
Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky-panky,
The song received rave reviews from the industry and some of these are noted in Wikipedia.
Kevin Courtney from the Irish Times named Barbie Girl the Single of the Week, calling it “a supreme slice of cheese which out-hums even the mighty Whigfield” (a well known Italian-Danish singer and record producer).
Courtney wrote that Aqua had “hit the perfect wally beat, and this awful tune is set to dominate the dance-floor and do kinky things to it.”
British magazine Music Week gave Barbie Girl a full score of five out of five and also named it Single of the Week, concluding: “Bleached and blonde this bouncy Europop tune may be, but dumb it isn’t. Its mix of perky vocals, barbed lyrics and infectious energy has already brought it success in Scandinavia and the US. The video is irresistible.”
A reviewer from People Magazine called it “the year’s best novelty record, a cartoonish anthem you’ll need surgery to remove from your head”.
James Hyman from the RM Dance Update also gave the song top score, declaring it as “a Balearic-tinged Euro pop smash hit”. Hyman added: “My niece refuses to go to bed unless the video is played several times over; I think that speaks for itself with regard to ongoing single success.”
There were a few negative reviews as well, with some critics labelling the song as “childish, silly and boring”, with the lyrics inappropriate for the target audience of young girls.
Barbie’s maker Mattel were greatly agitated by the perceived undesirable images of Barbie and Ken that were promoted by the song and the accompanying video clip.
Mattel alleged that the song portrayed Barbie as a sex object (referred to as “a blonde bimbo girl” in the song) and that her image was tarnished by the inferences contained. Mattel maintained that these references undermined the Barbie brand and devalued her commercial value. They likened MCA Records to a bank robber, piggybacking on Barbie’s fame to sell their record.
Soon after the release of Barbie Girl, in September 1997, Mattel filed a lawsuit against MCA, with the record company then countersuing for defamation over the “bank robber” inference.
The two cashed-up corporate heavyweights, both in a fighting mood and flexing plenty of legal muscle, commenced to slug it out through the US court system.
After lengthy proceedings, in 2002 Mattel’s claim was dismissed with Judge Alex Kozinsky ruling the song was a parody protected by the First Amendment.
Showing signs of exasperation, Kozinsky again dismissed Mattel’s suit together with MCA’s countersuit for defamation, and at the same time advised both parties to “chill out”.
The whole fabulously expensive legal battle then ground down into a sort of bloodstained draw, ending what surely must be the only time a toymaker has sued a record company.
Ross Fitzgerald AM is Emeritus Professor of History and Politics at Griffith University. His most recent book is Chalk and Cheese: A Fabrication (Hybrid), co-authored with Ian McFadyen.
Dick Whitaker is a widely published author and lecturer in the fields of meteorology and Australian history.
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