Cover artwork for the "Barbie Girl" single.
"Barbie Girl" is a song by Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua. It was released in April 1997 as the third single from the group's debut studio album, Aquarium (1997). As the title implies, the song (and its accompanying music video) was inspired by Barbie, though a footnote on the back of the Aquarium CD case precisely stated that "The song 'Barbie Girl' is a social comment and was not created or approved by the makers of the doll."
The song became one of the best-selling singles in history, but it resulted in a series of lawsuits in 2000 between Mattel and MCA Records, with Mattel taking offense at the song's portrayal of Barbie as an objectified "blonde bimbo" and alleging that the song damaged the brand's reputation. The case was ultimately dismissed in 2002 as the courts ruled the song to fall under fair use as a parody and satire, which remain protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Judge Alex Kozinski who was one of those presiding the case, was quoted as stating "The parties are advised to chill."
Mattel would ultimately use the song in their marketing; in 2009, Mattel re-recorded the song with new lyrics. The re-recorded song is named "The Barbie", and it was used as the launch song for the first Barbie Fashionistas doll line. In 2023, the soundtrack of the Mattel-produced film Barbie included the song "Barbie World" by rappers Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice, which samples Aqua's single.
Trivia[]
- This song and Gangnam Style by South Korean singer-songwriter PSY, which came out 15 years later, share a common ground as satirical songs that humorously poke fun at their titular subjects: the former to Barbie and the latter to the Gangnam district in Seoul, South Korea.