By: Sophia Chen

The creators of the Barbie movie used up the entire global supply of one shade of pink paint. How did this happen?

It’s pretty obvious where all the paint was used. The movie’s trailer shows a huge, real-life version of the Barbie dreamhouse, painted bright pink like the toy set, as well as the whole Barbieland — all in the same color. The bright shade of pink paint was bought from Rosco, a company that also sells color filters and other tools.

During the movie’s production in Leavesden, England, there was already a shortage of paint. Pandemic-related problems in the supply chain and the 2021 Texas freeze cut off many raw materials that were needed to produce the color. The freeze also affected hundreds of thousands of stockpiled gallons, according to Henry Cowen, a national sales manager for Rosco. When Barbie began production, the crew used up Rosco’s entire supply of the iconic hue.

Lauren Proud, Rosco’s vice president of global marketing, said, “There was this shortage, and then we gave them everything we could—I don’t know if they can claim credit.” However, she eventually admitted that “They did clean us out on paint.”

“Maintaining the ‘kid-ness’ was paramount,” Greta Gerwig, the movie’s director, told Architectural Digest. “I wanted the pinks to be very bright, and everything to be almost too much.”

Gerwig said she wanted everything to be larger-than-life because she did not want to “forget what made me love Barbie when I was a little girl.” The movie will come to theaters on July 21.