Character over consistency: telling tales of marketing’s ‘She-Monsters’

Abstract

Conventional brand management wisdom suggests that successful brands should resolve rather than embody contradictions. Yet some brands thrive precisely because they disturb and attract simultaneously. With the aid of mythographer Marina Warner’s “she-monster” concept and Will Storr’s insights on character-driven storytelling, we examine how Mattel’s Barbie doll maintains and sustains the brand’s hold over consumers by embracing rather than eradicating its contradictions. Via a three-phase empirical study of Barbie consumption, our analysis reveals three consumer responses to such brands: scaring (leveraging brand monstrosity to unsettle and titillate), mocking (defusing the brand’s monstrous elements through humour) and lulling (finding comfort in the ostensibly disturbing). This framework challenges the field’s emphasis on brand consistency, suggesting instead that cultural resonance may emerge from carefully cultivated contradictions. By examining how Barbie excels despite its consistent inconsistencies and disturbing backstory, we offer fresh understandings of brands that undermine conventional wisdom. Rather than attempt to resolve brand contradictions, myth-minded managers could productively embrace their brands’ capacity to attract and repel simultaneously.