By: Ellie Zhang

It seems perfectly reasonable: A Barbie movie determined to bring a Barbie world to life uses a global supply of pink paint.

Well, that’s precisely what happened for the Greta Gerwig-directed film “Barbie,” which hits theaters July 21 – but a few other factors likely contributed to the impressive cleanout. The film’s production designer, Sarah Greenwood, said, “Pink was a constant fight. You put it next to furniture or fabric, and it just flattens out.”

The film’s production designer Sarah Greenwood told Architectural Digest that the construction of the sets caused an international shortage of fluorescent pink paint by Rosco. This company specializes in products for the entertainment industry. She joked, “The world ran out of pink.”

Director Greta Gerwig was determined to create full-sized Barbie sets for stars Margot Robbie, who plays the eponymous doll, and Ryan Gosling, her boyfriend, Ken. Gerwig told Architectural Digest magazine: “I wanted the pinks to be very bright and everything to be almost too much.

But how much is a global supply of one shade of pink? While people don’t have a specific gallon count, the company told The Los Angeles Times that its supply during the film’s 2022 production was already lower than usual thanks to a stunted supply chain recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. “They used as much paint as we had,” Lauren Proud, the vice president of global marketing for Rosco, told the outlet.

Also, Rosco also had less paint than normal due to a deep freeze that hit Texas in 2021, damaging essential materials used to create the paint. “There was this shortage, and then we gave them everything we could – I don’t know they can claim credit,” Proud said.

Even though the initial supply may have been smaller than usual, “Barbie” did clean Rosco out of that vibrant pink paint. And if you want to bring the Barbie theme home – but don’t feel like painting – you can buy your own Barbie DreamHouse instead.