#DADSWHOPLAYBARBIE

During America’s football season, we spoke to dudes about their OTHER favorite pastime:

playing Barbie with their daughters.

But we didn’t do this to be cute. Studies show that when dads play with their daughters in an imaginary world, it helps their emotional, social and intellectual development. So, we used this line throughout our work: Time spent with a girl in her imaginary world is an investment in her real world.

To speak to an audience we’d never spoken to before, we had to turn up in places the brand had never been. We launched our campaign in the middle of the NFL playoffs, during the AFC championships, on ESPN and in the Wall Street Journal.

We had to inspire inspired dads everywhere to throw away old gender stereotypes and simply pick up a Barbie.

We launched with a film in the middle of the NFL playoffs. Viewers saw a “typical man’s man” admitting that his Sunday ritual of watching football is often interrupted by Barbie time. And that this is, actually, a great thing.

Our funny, heartwarming and completely unscripted films featured real dads and daughters playing with Barbie in various professional roles.

We made a 90-second online film, three 30-second cut-downs and several 15 second cut-

downs for TV, cinema and digital use. In the Wall Street Journal, we spoke to dads about a

different type of investment. We sent kits to influential dads to encourage more dad and

daughter playtime. We even created our first ever Dad Doll.

Every execution carried this message: “Time spent in her imaginary world is an investment in her real world” and the hashtag #DadsWhoPlayBarbie, which invited dads to proudly share their own stories of playing Barbie.

Reach: The campaign has received 94M views across broadcast, digital and cinema; with the long form video receiving over 2.1M views.

Engagement: above average on Twitter (4.8% vs 3% for typical posts) and Facebook (500+ comments vs 30 for typical posts).

Earned impressions: 472 PR placements garnering 671 million impressions with 99% positive or neutral sentiment. The campaign has been praised for championing girls and smashing old gender stereotypes.

“Dads Who Play Barbie ad is the real Patriots-Steelers winner”

- CNET

“This Ad Is For All The Dads Who Play Barbie With Their Kids. Because dolls and dads do go together.” - Huffington Post