Burger King's Barbie meal is the scariest marketing collab we've seen

Burger King Barbie meal
(Image credit: Burger King Brazil)

The Barbie movie is being released this week, and Barbiecore is everywhere.. even at Burger King. At least in Brazil, where it's painted stores and logo and is selling a Barbie meal that includes a cheeseburger with bacon bits and a 'smokey' pink sauce, a pink milkshake and a doughnut, also pink, obviously.

But the meal is proving to be divisive. While some hardcore Barbie fans are thrilled, I can't help but think that the colour looks even more frightening than that of the Grimace Shake, and we've all seen the viral Grimace TikTok trend.

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No it's not a fake ad like those Maybelline adverts on London transport. This impossibly coloured meal combo shown on Burger King Brazil's Twitter and TikTok served up by an employee in strappy pink heels and a Burger King polo actually exists. We've seen all kinds of Barbie merch released ahead of the July 20 release of Warner Bros's Barbie movie, but the BK Barbie Combo has to be scariest.

Sure, the meal could be interpreted as making clever commentary about the film's characters (the 'vanilla' milkshake is artificially flavoured with 'strawberry' Nesquik powder and the side order of 'Ken’s potatoes' are just normal fries, because 'he's just Ken'. But can anyone really find pink sauce on a burger appetising?

Burger King Barbie meal

Burger King Brazil has even turned its logo pink (Image credit: Burger King Brazil)

Burger King Brazil's social media posts have received millions of views, and fans have been posting photos of their hot pink meals with much excitement. But others aren't so sure.

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"I’m so sorry but the pink burger looks like someone chewed a piece of bubblegum & spread it out on the thing," one person wrote on Twitter. Others have described it as a "Pepto-Bismol burger" or simply "SICKENING". 

We're wondering if the meal is an attempt by Burger King to create its own Grimace trend. After all, we've seen how intense the McDonald's vs Burger King battle is in Brazil. Alas, it seems the meal is restricted to Brazil only unlike the red-bunned Whopper released for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

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Joseph Foley

Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news and features, updates buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment for creatives, from monitors to accessories and office supplies. A writer and translator, he also works as a project manager at London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives, where he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing photography, video content, graphic design and collaterals for the hospitality sector. He enjoys photography, particularly nature photography, wellness and he dances Argentine tango.