Buddha to Barbie

My mind is twisted around to say the least. Yesterday’s focus was on personal inspiration. Today’s whirlwind was about brand.

We went from the oldest Buddhist temple in Shanghai to the newest temple for Barbie in the span of one hour. From monastery to monetization.

I think the last time that I saw so much pink I was in utero.

Not one. Not two. Not three. But SIX floors of Barbie are what we encountered at the first global flagship Barbie store here in Shanghai. I would love to have a day long conversation with Mattel about this phenomenon.

Thousands of Barbie dolls lining a four-story spiral staircase. Limited edition Barbies – from the2000 “Barbie for President” to the classic 1959 Barbie to Barbie's new Asian relation, Ling. And so so so many more. Special Barbie music. A runway for full-sized Barbie fashion shows featuring clothes women and girls can buy. Take your picture on the Barbie throne. Poke your head through the hole and have your face on Barbie’s body. Go to the Barbie Spa.

Barbie. Barbie. Barbie. Barbie. Barbie.

There are dolls to buy, of course. But there are also shoes and plates and handbags. Apparently Ken and Skipper are somewhere in the store as well, but I couldn’t find them. They are in the back apparently.

And for each of the four customers we saw, there were at least ten pink-clad salespeople.

I have some video and pictures, but my connection is too slow to upload them right now. In the meantime, check this out: http://www.barbieshanghai.com/en/lobby.html. You will get the idea.

Believe it or not, but our stop at the Barbie store included lunch at the Barbie Café, a stylish penthouse clad in black and white tile (a nod to Barbie’s original zebra-print one-piece bathing suit), as well as plenty of clear plastic chairs and pink leather booths.

The menu is pink. The food is pink. The drinks are pink. And the manager of the café calls himself “Shanghai Ken.”

I have pictures and witnesses. I swear.

According to “Ken” this retail assault is no shot in the dark. Mattel spent two years looking at London, Paris, Milan, Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing, and Shanghai while deciding on the best market for the store. Or should I say experience? Or manifesto? Or alternate universe?

Shanghai is the only one of those markets that has a growing middle class. Add in the one-child policy in China and you have the ultimate recipe for high-priced children’s toys and a fetish for the American Dream.

The head chef is named Tess. She is from Kentucky, but she trained at some of the best restaurants in Paris, Geneva, and New York.

Ken and Tess welcomed us graciously and served us pretty good food, but it was hard to get past the environment. Am I eating an advertisement? That said, their dream is that the penthouse bar will become THE kitsch destination for young professionals in Shanghai. I will have to go back at night and have a Ken-tini. I could see that working out quite nicely.

“Ken” was born in Shanghai, but lived in Australia for the past two decades running the food service at top hotels and casinos, but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to come work for Barbie. Same with Tess. She abandoned haute cuisine in some of the world’s food capitals to come and reconnect with a character she had not thought about since she was a little girl.

Out of the twelve participants, Marie, the recruiter, couldn’t help but have her picture taken on Barbie’s throne. Who knew Barbie was royalty? Well you would know by looking at Cleopatra Barbie, Inca Queen Barbie, Scottish Clan Queen Barbie and dozens of others. Marie had more than fifty Barbies as a child and she was clearly trying to maintain her composure in the face of so much pink fanfare.

Brands from all over the world are flocking to China to take advantage of the bursting middle class. Reports differ, but it’s only 5% of China that can afford such luxuries like Barbie, Mont Blanc, Rolex, and Danish design, so who knows how successful these efforts will be?

Oh wait, that’s fifty million people.