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Speaker 1: Let's get to it, because the company did report sales

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Speaker 1: and profit that beat Alice expectations with us and delighted

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Speaker 1: to have us back with us. Is in On Christ

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Speaker 1: German and CEO of Mattel on the phone in Elsugundo, California.

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Speaker 2: Forgive me in On. There's a lot going on, try

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Speaker 2: to keep track of it.

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Speaker 1: I know you've had a busy plate as well. First

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Speaker 1: of all, congratulations on Barbie, because we have been talking

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Speaker 1: about that with you for a while. I almost feel

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Speaker 1: like since the beginning and your strategy of bringing Mattel

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Speaker 1: toys to life, what does the success of the movie

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Speaker 1: mean to you and the company.

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Speaker 3: Yes, that's right, Carol, and thank you for having me

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Speaker 3: on the show. As you remember from the very beginning,

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Speaker 3: this was never about just making a movie. This was

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Speaker 3: about creating a cultural event, a societal moment, and we

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Speaker 3: could not be happier where we are today with such

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Speaker 3: strong performance right out of the gate the first week,

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Speaker 3: with over five hundred million dollars in growth in box

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Speaker 3: office receipts, and more importantly, the audience reaction with people

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Speaker 3: going too and even three times already in the first

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Speaker 3: week to see the movie. A very broad audience, including men,

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Speaker 3: and a very strong performance internationally that is stronger than

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Speaker 3: the US. And it's not because the US is not

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Speaker 3: doing well. It's just a very strong performance across the world.

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Speaker 3: And all in all, it really is, you know, an

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Speaker 3: exciting moment and a showcase for the cultural resonance of

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Speaker 3: our brands, our ability to attract and collaborate with top

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Speaker 3: creative talent and marketing and demand creation capabilities to create

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Speaker 3: what is now, you know, a cultural phenomenon.

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Speaker 1: You know, what does it mean for merchandise? I mean,

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Speaker 1: I've actually bought some Barbie products. To be quite honest,

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Speaker 1: I grew up with Barbies. Introduce them to my daughter,

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Speaker 1: My older sisters introduced me to them, and it's nostalgic

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Speaker 1: for me. But I also have been in the stores

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Speaker 1: where all ages are snapping out products. How how does

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Speaker 1: that move the needle for you guys financially as well?

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Speaker 3: All those Yeah, we did see incredible take up of

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Speaker 3: the movie related merchandise. We have having been sixty more

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Speaker 3: than I having been sixty five different consumer product partners,

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Speaker 3: different different industry, different products all over the world, and

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Speaker 3: we're seeing incredible excitement and as you say, you know,

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Speaker 3: product is setting out quickly. This is movie related merchandise.

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Speaker 1: Does it financially have a material of financial material impact on.

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Speaker 3: You guys, Well, we haven't broken it out, but this

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Speaker 3: is already part of what we expect will be an

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Speaker 3: uplift in Barbie sales in the second half. This is

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Speaker 3: where really where it kicked in. And of course don't

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Speaker 3: forget the Hello effect on the overall Barbie brand, with

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Speaker 3: the significant improvement in consumer demands already in the third quarter,

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Speaker 3: and expect Barbie to grow in the third quarter and

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Speaker 3: and the full year.

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Speaker 4: Nan you called it a cultural moment, and certainly that

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Speaker 4: means that it can polarize some people, at least here

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Speaker 4: in the United States. Got to ask about the high

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Speaker 4: profile people on the right who've criticized the film. Ben

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Speaker 4: Shapiro made this forty minute YouTube video. It's been viewed

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Speaker 4: nearly two million times. He says he destroys the movie.

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Speaker 4: He actually burns Barbie's in it. Elon Musk says, if

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Speaker 4: you take a shot every time Barbie says the word patriarchy,

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Speaker 4: you'll pass out before the movie ends. How do you

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Speaker 4: react to that criticism?

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Speaker 3: Barbie has been a flag carrier for diversity, and inclusivity.

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Speaker 3: Barbie inspired the limitless potential in every girl. And the

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Speaker 3: genius of Greta is what she did. She tooked this

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Speaker 3: message you know that that focuses on female empowerment and

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Speaker 3: made this movie appealing and relevant to everyone and people

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Speaker 3: who go to the movie, you know, whether you're a

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Speaker 3: Barbie fan or or you know or looking to be

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Speaker 3: entertained and inspired by by a modern day interpretation of

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Speaker 3: one of the most iconic brands in modern culture. This

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Speaker 3: movie Will Will Will Be, Will Be will be an

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Speaker 3: experience for you. And what we believe is this movie

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Speaker 3: will recontextualize the way people think of Barbie and what

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Speaker 3: Barbie means for the world. And we could not be

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Speaker 3: more proud of of the of the messages, uh and

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Speaker 3: the unique voice that Greta has in this movie.

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Speaker 1: Well, and I'm curious to does it mean that we're

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Speaker 1: going to see a Barbie sequel or is it a

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Speaker 1: case of you guys move on to other toys.

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Speaker 3: You know, we have an announced sequel, and you know

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Speaker 3: we still burn a week into the religion.

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Speaker 2: But how we journalists are We're like, okay, now, now.

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Speaker 4: What what's next?

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Speaker 3: You know, you're not alone you're not alone and asking

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Speaker 3: the question. But of course, you know, it's such a success,

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Speaker 3: such a phenomenal success. You know, of course we'd be

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Speaker 3: looking to extend, extend this. And we've always said that

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Speaker 3: our goal is not this is broadly not just about

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Speaker 3: Barbie Is. We're not looking to create single movies, but

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Speaker 3: to build film franchises for the long term. And of

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Speaker 3: course this is part of our strategy in terms of

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Speaker 3: capturing the full value from our intellectual properties.

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Speaker 2: You know, does that intellectual property be it in movies

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Speaker 2: or streaming series or what have you. How you guys,

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Speaker 2: you know, whichever ways you go, does that ultimately become

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Speaker 2: a big generator of revenues.

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Speaker 3: We absolutely said that our strategy in capturing the full

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Speaker 3: value of our i t outside the toy isle can

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Speaker 3: be meaningful in success, you know, and we're looking to

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Speaker 3: scale this. This is not just about a movie or

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Speaker 3: a TV series. This is about participating in the highly

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Speaker 3: accretive business verticals outside the toy isle that are all

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Speaker 3: driven by big franchises, big brands, and in some cases

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Speaker 3: these verticals are larger than the toy industry. So we

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Speaker 3: believe that we have you know, the assets, the capabilities,

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Speaker 3: the relationship and with the Barbie movie. This really positions

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Speaker 3: us in a very strong way as a key player

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Speaker 3: that can participate in this, in these verticals and create

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Speaker 3: meaningful shareholder value and build a meaningful business out of this.

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Speaker 4: You know, it's like Carol said, this has been a

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Speaker 4: busy week for you. Got to ask about the big

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Speaker 4: news yesterday the co president CEO Richard Dixon moving on

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Speaker 4: to be CEO of the Gap. Let's get your comments

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Speaker 4: on that. How big of a loss is this for

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Speaker 4: the company?

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Speaker 3: Richard is a friend and has been a great colleague

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Speaker 3: and partner for me since I joined the company. But

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Speaker 3: one of Richard's biggest accomplishments is that we built a

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Speaker 3: very very strong team of leaders, of designers, of innovators,

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Speaker 3: of creative talent within the company and the executives who

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Speaker 3: take over from Richard. Between Lisa McKnight, who has been

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Speaker 3: the head of Barbie since twenty and sixteen and very

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Speaker 3: much manage the transformation together with Richard and the head

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Speaker 3: of those in twenty nineteen. And Josh Silverman, who has

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Speaker 3: been at Disney for twenty years that is now where

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Speaker 3: he oversaw all of Disney's third party relationships with licenses,

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Speaker 3: now running our non ploy commercial activity. Two world class

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Speaker 3: leaders really taking charge and we could not be more

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Speaker 3: confident of our team that he's running this business.

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Speaker 1: You know, in ten seconds, gotta be quick. Did you

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Speaker 1: give tips to Will Farrell on playing a CEO of Mattel.

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Speaker 3: I can learn a lot from him on the comedy side,

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Speaker 3: but I'm a big fan and it's great to see

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Speaker 3: him playing the role.

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Speaker 1: Well, congratulations and we're looking forward to following more of

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Speaker 1: this story and what comes next. In on Christ German

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Speaker 1: and chief executive officer at Mattel on the phone from

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Speaker 1: Elson Gundo, California,