The production of the upcoming Hollywood film Barbie caused a global shortage of pink colour. The film's production designer revealed that the construction of sets used so much paint that “the world ran out of pink”, according to Architectural Digest.
In an interview with the magazine, Sarah Greenwood talked about constructing the sets of Barbie. “Maintaining the ‘kid-ness' was paramount,” said Ms Greenwood adding that she “wanted the pinks to be very bright, and everything to be almost too much”.
The production designer said that she did not want to forget what made her love Barbie when she was small. Talking about the sets, she shared that the amount of pink used in its construction triggered a worldwide paint shortage.
But, according to Rosco, the company which supplied pink paint for Barbie, the Covid-19 pandemic had disrupted the global supply chain and the production of Barbie in 2022 contributed to the shortage of pink paint.
Rosco's vice president of global marketing, Lauren Proud, told Los Angeles Times that “They used as much paint as we had”. She explained that there “was this shortage” and “then we gave them everything we could – I don't know if they can claim credit”.
Mr Proud added that “They did clean us out on paint”.
According to Architectural Digest, Barbie's set decorators Katie Spencer and Sarah Greenwood never owned a Barbie and ordered a Dreamhouse from Amazon to take inspiration for the sets. “The scale was quite strange,” said Katie Spencer.
Director Greta Gerwig shared that the ceilings are made small and “it only takes a few paces to cross the room”. This, according to her, was done to make the actors look “big in the space but small overall”.
Directed by Greta Gerwig, 'Barbie' stars Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Dua Lipa, Greta Gerwig, and Emma Mackey among others. The trailer was released last month and the film will hit theatres on July 21.
