💃 How BARBIE Made a Surprising Comeback [LEARN ENGLISH WITH THE NEWS] English Reading Practice

Welcome back to JForrest English. I'm Jennifer.  And today we're going to read a news article  

together about the upcoming Hollywood movie  Barbie. And you're going to learn a lot of events,  

vocabulary, natural expressions, and correct  pronunciation. Let's get started. First,  

I'll read the headline How Barbie  Made a Surprising Comeback.

This article is about Barbie, and that's why  I'm wearing pink. Because as you know, Barbie's  

favorite color is pink. Maybe you didn't know that  because you have no idea who or what Barbie is.

In this picture on the right, you see  a doll, a child's doll. This doll is  

Barbie. That's her name. Barbie's boyfriend is  Ken. This is the Ken doll. When I was a kid,  

Barbie was the most popular doll that  kids play with. What about in your  

country? Was Barbie the Barbie  doll a popular toy for kids?

And perhaps you heard that recently. A month  ago, a Barbie movie was released. So now that  

you know who Barbie is, let's review the headline  again. How Barbie Made a Surprising Comeback.  

Let's take a look at this expression to make a.

Comeback surprising is the adjective  that describes the expression,  

but here the expression is to make a comeback and  the verb make is simply in the past simple made.  

The expression to make a comeback is used when  something or someone becomes successful again.

After a period of not being successful.  So remember I said when I was a kid,  

Barbie was the most popular toy in  North America. So when I was a kid,  

Barbie was successful. But in the last 1015  years, Barbie wasn't successful. But now  

Barbie apparently is successful  again. Barbie is popular again.

So in this term, successful can be measured in  terms of popularity and the number of sales of  

Barbie dolls for you. You might make a  comeback if you were doing really well  

in a course you were an A+ student, but then  halfway through the year you started failing  

that course. But then you make a comeback  and your grade goes right back up to the top.

So success can be measured in many  different things. In this context,  

it's the sales of the doll Barbie. How Barbie  made a surprising comeback. Surprising just  

modifies the expression to say it was unexpected.  Now, don't worry about taking all of these notes,  

because I've summarized everything  in a free lesson PDF, so you can  

look for the link in the description to  download the lesson PDF. Let's continue.

So now let's read the article. The name  Barbara Millicent Roberts may not ring a bell.  

If something rings a bell, it means that the  information is familiar to you. So I might say,  

does the name ring a bell? Does  this store ring a bell? I could say.

Does Barbie doll ring a bell? And I'm asking  you, does the concept of a Barbie doll sound  

familiar to you? And if you've never heard  of Barbie, you would say, Oh no, teacher,  

that doesn't ring a bell. That doesn't ring a  bell or you'd be like, yeah, that rings a bell. I  

played with Barbie when I was a little kid, so to  ring a bell is used when information is familiar.

The name Barbara Millicent Roberts may not ring a  bell. And honestly, if you said that name to me,  

I would say that doesn't ring a bell. But say  her nickname. A nickname is an alternative name  

that you can use. So apparently I actually did not  know this. This doll's name is actually Barbara,  

but everyone calls her Barbie. I  had no idea that this doll's name.

Is Barbara to me? This is Barbie always, so  this name definitely would not ring a bell  

for me. But Barbie of course rings a bell for  me, but for you, Perhaps not until this article  

and people of all ages know  her, at least in North America.

Created by Mattel in 1959. So the Barbie  was created by Mattel. In this case they  

simply say created by Mattel because  the context of Barbie is already known,  

it's established. Created by Mattel in  1959. Barbie doesn't look a day over 19.

So if you don't look a day over 19, it's  simply saying that you don't look older  

than 19. So this can be a nice compliment  to say to someone because everyone wants  

to look young. So you could say to  your mom, or to your teacher, or to.

A coworker. You don't look a day over  and then you can choose a age that is  

relatively young to the age of the person  you're talking to. So if your mom is 60,  

it would be a compliment to your mom  to say she looks 50, which is 10 years  

younger than her actual age. So you could  say to your mom you don't look a day over.

50 Assuming in this case, assuming your mom is  

60 or 70. Of course you could say to your mom you  don't look a day over 20, but that is just so far  

from reality. It's not at all true, right?  But it is possible that your mom could look.

10 years younger and maybe even 20 years younger.  So if you really want to compliment your mom,  

you can say you don't look a day over  40 and she'll say, Oh my goodness,  

that is so sweet of you. Thank you. So  that's a way you can compliment someone. OK,  

so Barbie doesn't look a day over 19. Why? Because  she's a plastic doll. She obviously doesn't age.

And now she is getting new life in Barbie,  the movie distributed by Warner Bros.  

The movie out next Friday starring  Margot Robbie, Margot Robbie of course,  

here on the left hand side of this  image who looks very much like the doll  

Barbie. And that's obviously the point  because she plays Barbie in the movie.

The movie out next Friday when something is  out and then you have a date in the future  

or a specific date even in the past is when a  product is available to purchase. So you could say  

the movie, the movie.

Was out last Friday, which means it was  available to purchase a movie ticket. So  

you could watch the movie or the movie  will be out next Friday. In this case,  

they just said the movie out next Friday.

In the same way that you could say  the movie, available next Friday,  

available next Friday starring Margot Robbie  allows Barbie to question her own reality. Not  

too sure what that will look like in the movie,  something consumers have been doing for decades.  

So do you plan to see the movie Barbie?

Well, of course, if you had no idea who Barbie  was, if the name didn't ring a bell, maybe not.  

But maybe after this article, or if you grew  up playing with Barbie dolls your entire life,  

you may want to see the movie. So let's  take a look at this sentence structure.  

What verb tense do we have here have been  doing? What verb tense is this? This,  

of course, is the present perfect continuous.

And the present perfect continuous is used for  an action that starts in the past and continues  

until now. The time reference here is 4 decades  when you see four and a period of time or since  

and a period of time. That's a keyword for the  present perfect or the present perfect continuous.

Decades to me sounds like 20-30. Forty 50 years.  It sounds like a long time because one decade  

is 10 years. So decades with an S plural  is at least 20 years. But it could also  

be 50 years or 200 years. So it sounds  like a long time. So consumers started.

Questioning their own reality  decades ago, 50 years ago,  

100 years ago. And they've continued  doing this and they're still doing it now  

back in 2014 and 2015. We use back in to talk  about a time in the past. So you could say.

Back in back in summer, I went on vacation back in  

July, I got a promotion. So you can use a  year, you can use a season or you can use a  

month. You could also say back when and have  a clause. For example back when I was a kid.

I played with Barbies. Like every American  kid from the 90s, we played with Barbies.

Back when I was a kid. Now, of  course I could simply say when  

I was a kid. By adding back in front of it,  it emphasizes that it was a long time ago,  

back when I was a kid back in 2014. So it  makes it sound like it was a longer time  

ago simply than saying in 2014, which  also would be grammatically correct.

Back in 2014 and 2015, we hit a low, we hit  a low and it was a moment to reflect in the  

context of why did Barbie lose relevance. So they  now say that this is a quote. I know it's a quote  

because I see the quotation marks at the beginning  and end and this was said by Ricard. Rickard.

Ricard Dixon, President and Chief Operating  Officer, COO. Generally they use abbreviations  

for C titles. COO, Chief, this is the O  Operating officer. So this becomes COO,  

President and COO of Mattel. Remember,  Mattel is the company that sells.

Barbie Dolls Warner Brothers was the movie studio  that produced the movie Barbie, starring Margot  

Robbie. But the doll has been around for years and  years, and the company Mattel created the Barbie  

doll. So the company that created the Barbie  doll said back in 2014 and 15, we hit a low.

That means that their sales were lower  than previous. So when you hit a low,  

it sounds like the sales were lower than  they have ever been or that they've been  

for a long period of time. We hit a low  and it was a moment to reflect in the  

context of why did Barbie lose relevance.  So their sales hit a low, which means.

Consumers are not buying the Barbie doll anymore.  And so they had to say, well, why not? Why isn't  

the Barbie relevant? Why did the Barbie lose  relevance? Where are we here lose relevance.  

So when you lose relevance, it means you are no  longer relevant. So that means no longer relevant.

And when something is no longer  relevant, it means that people,  

the media, are not talking about that something  or someone anymore. So there's no more publicity  

for it. There's no more popularity.  And if people aren't talking about it,  

it's not popular. Well, then  they're not purchasing it either.

So why did she lose relevance? She Barbie didn't  reflect the look of the world around us. And so we  

then set a course to truly transform the brand  with a playbook around reigniting our purpose.  

First, let's look at set. Of course, when you set  a course, you set a particular plan into motion.

And so you then just simply follow that  plan. So their course, their plan is to  

transform the brand. Why? Because they want  to make sure that Barbie, the Barbie doll,  

which was extremely popular in the 90s but then  wasn't popular, they wanted to make sure that  

Barbie remained relevant, remain something that  consumers talk about and are interested in remain.

Remain relevant. So they set a course to truly  transform the brand with a playbook. A playbook  

is again just their plan. You can imagine they  write the plan down in their playbook. So this is  

simply the plan with a plan around a playbook  around reigniting our purpose. So reignite.

Means to ignite. The word ignite means  to to start. When you ignite something,  

that something becomes activated, It starts.

So when you reignite it, it  means you start it again,  

you activate it again. So they  had a purpose in the past,  

but now their purpose is no longer relevant  because Barbie is not popular anymore. So  

they need to restart reignite that purpose,  and they're going to set a course to do that.

Mattel, the company that produces Barbie.  Mattel was slow to diversify Barbie and friends.  

As a result, sales at Mattel started to  slump in 2014. When your state sales slump,  

it means they start to go  down, They start to go down.  

So to decline is another way of saying that. But  I don't hear this being used in all contexts.

We use it in very specific context, Sales for  example, because your your grades at school  

for example, or your kids grades. If you're  no longer in school, your kids grades could  

start to decline as well. You could say  they started to slump, but to be honest I  

don't hear it in an everyday context. I do hear it  specifically with sales, which is something that.

Everybody talks about whether you're in a sales  job or you're a consumer and you purchase products  

from a company as well. So to decline, but  I'll put in brackets specifically for sales,  

but during the pandemic, Barbie saw a resurgence.

As parents looked for ways  to keep kids busy at home,  

a resurgence in sales is the opposite of a  decline is when the sales start to increase  

again. I wouldn't say I saw a resurgence in my  grades, for example. I wouldn't say that. But  

sales you can. So this is the opposite of  a slump. It's when they start to increase.

As parents look for ways to keep kids busy at  home, So during the pandemic, because all the  

kids that were at home, parents said, well, what  can I do? Oh, I can give my kids some Barbie dolls  

and they can play with Barbie and that will  keep them busy. Let's continue in the first  

quarter of this year. So a calendar year,  January to December is divided into quarters.

So there are three months in each quarter. So  the first quarter would be January, February,  

March. That would be the first quarter which is  also known as Q1. So you could say in Q1 or in the  

first quarter which represents January, February  and March in Q1 of this year in the first quarter.

Of this year, Mattel sales fell 22% from  last year's first quarter. So this is the  

first quarter in 2023, so Jan to March  2023 compared to Jan to March 2022,  

primarily due to declines in  Barbie dolls and merchandise.

So Mattel as a company does not just  sell Barbie, they sell other toys,  

other products as well. But the company's  overall sales fell 22% and primarily when  

you see primarily it means the main  reason, primarily the main reason.

Was due to declines in Barbie dolls. So  clearly Barbie as a brand is a very important  

part of Mattel's overall success as a company.  Merchandise is things like clothing, posters,  

jewelry, accessories for something else.  So when the movie is released you can buy.

The movie. But then there's also a lot of  merchandise around that movie. So you can put  

the poster on your wall, You can buy the poster.  You can buy maybe a pen that says Barbie on it,  

or let me get my pink sparkly pen, which  is more appropriate for Barbie. You can  

buy a pen that says Barbie. That  would be an example of merchandise.

So their sales fell because of  Barbie dolls and merchandise.  

Now Barbie and friends have many  different skin tones and shapes.  

Mattel produces Barbies in wheelchairs and Ken  dolls with the skin condition Vitiligo Vitiligo.

So the purpose of this is because remember, the  company felt like their sales were falling because  

Barbie lost relevance, and she lost relevance  because she doesn't reflect the look of the world  

around us. Obviously, considering the entire  world, not just North America, this is not.

What the average person looks like. There are many  different looks, shapes, sizes, skin tones, so the  

company wanted to reflect that to help increase  their sales. So these are the Barbies that were  

available to me when I was a kid. This is what  I remember Barbie looking like, but now this is.

What Barbie looks like As you can see,  there are many different styles of  

Barbie now to reflect. Different people,  different conditions and different looks,  

different shapes. So this is the company's attempt  to diversify Barbie. So Barbie regains relevance  

and makes a comeback become successful again.  Let's continue, Mattel hopes the new movie.

Which was 4 1/2 years in the making. So they  were making it for 4 1/2 years. Sometimes I hear  

students say four years and a half. It's 4 1/2  and then years, months, weeks, days, 4 1/2 years.

In the making will give the brand and Barbie the  boost they're looking for. Boost is increase and  

it could be increase in sales, increase in  popularity. The boost they're looking for  

that may already be happening, that being that.

The movie is giving the brand a boost that  may already be happening. AMC theatres  

reports they've sold more than 20,000 presale  tickets to Barbie. So a presale is a sale  

before the movie is officially released.  Before the movie is out, Remember that.

To be out is available, so before the movies  out, they sell the tickets in advance. So a  

presale is when you buy something in advance  of it being available. And at Hombom Toys in  

New York City, movie Barbie is sold out.  If something is sold out to be sold out,  

it means they've sold 100% of available supply.

So to be sold out. To be sold  out. So to sell 100% of available  

supply. So let's say they made 1000 Barbies  available to sell to the public. And if  

something is sold out, it means they've  sold 1000 Barbies 100% of available supply.

So that's good news for Barbie, and perhaps  Barbie is making a comeback. So that's the  

end of the article. What I'll do now is  I'll go to the beginning and I'll read  

the article from start to finish and this  time you can focus on my pronunciation,  

how Barbie made a surprising comeback. The name  Barbara Millicent Roberts may not ring a bell,  

but say her nickname Barbie,  and people of all ages know her.

Created by Mattel in 1959, Barbie doesn't look  a day over 19, and now she is getting new life  

in Barbie, the movie, distributed by Warner Bros.  The movie, out next Friday starring Margot Robbie,  

allows Barbie to question her own reality,  something consumers have been doing for decades.

Back in 2014 and 2015, we hit a low and it was a  moment to reflect in the context of why did Barbie  

lose relevance, Said Ricard Dixon, president and  chief operating officer of Mattel. She didn't  

reflect the look of the world around us and so  we then set a course to truly transform the brand  

with a playbook around reigniting our purpose.  Mattel was slow to diversify Barbie and Friends.

As a result, sales at Mattel's started to slump  in 2014, But during the pandemic, Barbie saw a  

resurgence as parents looked for ways to keep kids  busy at home. In the first quarter of this year,  

Mattel's sales fell 22% from last year's  first quarter, primarily due to declines  

in Barbie dolls and merchandise. Now, Barbie and  friends have many different skin tones and shapes.

Mattel produces Barbies in wheelchairs and  Ken dolls with the skin condition vitiligo.  

Mattel hopes the new movie, which  was 4 1/2 years in the making,  

will give the brand and Barbie the boost they're  looking for. That may already be happening.

AMC theatres reports they've sold more than 20,000  presale tickets to Barbie. And at Hom Bomb Toys  

in New York City, movie Barbie is sold out. So  I'm curious, are you going to watch Barbie when  

it's out? When it's available? Put Yes I am. No,  I'm not. Or maybe I haven't decided yet. In the  

comments below, my friend already invited me to  go watch Barbie with her, so I most likely will.

And you can get this free speaking guide where  I share 6 tips on how to speak English fluently  

and confidently. You can download it for free  on my website. Just click here or look for the  

link in the description. And why don't you  get started with your next lesson right now.