Hidden cameras capture real adult’s reactions, as five girls improvise live, setting free their imaginations in the real world, just as they do when playing with Barbie.

One girl gives a group of adult students a lecture on the brain’s importance.

Another becomes a vet; and took over a surgery, meeting real animals and their owners.

A third girl became a busy businesswoman while waiting for her delayed flight at the airport.

One girl became a paleontologist – an expert on dinosaurs and gave real tours in the Natural History Museum.

Another became the new head coach for a semi-professional football team, surprising the players and taking a real training session.

In all these scenarios we surprised the adults, they weren’t expecting a child, and so their reactions were 100% genuine each time.

The film cuts back to one of the girl’s bedrooms, where we reveal the little girl playing

For 57 years Barbie has been focused on enabling girls explore their potential – she has had over 150 careers. Our inspiration was Barbie’s founder Ruth Handler: “Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices.”

In order to reconnect with millennial moms (who had likely played with Barbie as kids but had had their opinions changed by Barbie’s polarizing press) we knew we needed to show the brand’s true story, and evolve it from “plastic” and “perfection” to one of greater purpose and meaning.

Our idea was to unlock for the world Barbie’s true purpose: that it nurtures the potential in girls. We needed to remind people that when girls play with Barbie, they imagine all the possibilities their futures hold.

Go with your gut. To sum up our process – we cast by instinct. Why? Because we were casting 6-8 year olds, and the shoot wouldn’t allow us to do multiple takes.

We weren’t looking for mini professionals. We needed natural girls, not ones acting up for cameras.

We wanted to capture the innocence of a child’s imagination, not drama school performance. We needed children who would be able to improvise and deliver in the moment. The moment they’re asked to make up a speech on the spot in front of 40 adults, or when they have to coach a team of adult football players.

We met more than 500 girls, and then narrowed it down, by letting imaginations shine in a number of sessions. We cast the five our instincts said would deliver. They didn’t let us down.