The Mancunian Way: CAZ vs Barbie’s corvette

Keep up to date with all the big stories from across Greater Manchester in the daily Mancunian Way newsletter. You can receive the newsletter direct to your inbox every weekday by signing up right here.

Here's the Mancunian Way for today:

Hello,

Barbie fever is gripping Britain as Greta Gerwig’s new film hits cinemas today. Promotions for the movie have been everywhere (this unofficial one is still my favourite) and local businesses have taken inspiration too with Barbie themed cakes and milkshakes and even a Barbie brunch.

But it’s not the first time the all American doll has been celebrated in Greater Manchester. Back in 1997, Mattel chose to celebrate Barbie’s 38th birthday by painting an entire street pink.

Residents of Ash Street, in Langworthy, woke to find the garish paint had been splashed across their homes in her honour. It was chosen in preference to Pink Street, in Burnley, to become a piece of Barbie's world for a few weeks, as Lee Grimsditch writes, setting the scene for adverts featuring pink poodles, cars and pink smoking chimneys.

The lurid colour was painted onto 30 terraces, though downpours made the roof impossible to colour, and plans to pink up the road were abandoned. Instead, effects experts scoured the city looking for a long roll of carpet to paint a shocking shade instead.

After the two-week publicity stunt, residents were told they could keep their street pink if they desired. Most opted out and returned their homes to the original red brick, but Vicki Ludlow was keen to retain the pink. She asked her landlord if she could keep it. "The answer was a definite no," she told the Manchester Evening News at the time.

Speaking of Barbie - she was unconvincingly dragged into a row about the