New research from online party retailer, Party Delights, has highlighted the biggest kids’ party themes, base on sales data, on-site searches and Google search volumes.
Super Mario experienced the most significant uplift in search volume from 2022 to 2023, with an 86% increase in searches. This is largely due to the new movie released in April boosting the brand.
Barbie has also seen a surge in popularity ahead of the highly anticipated film starring Margot Robbie due for release this summer. The film’s release has also impacted social media mentions, with Barbie amassing over 12 million hashtags on Instagram.
Harry Potter has been a popular party theme for almost 30 years now, but the series now appears to have benefitted from a different avenue, with the release of the Hogwarts Legacy, which has proved to be a hit with gamers across the globe, contributing to a 59% uplift in search volume and over 34 million mentions on Instagram.
Batman also benefitted from a video game release with Gotham Knights being released last year, as well as the film at the beginning of 2022. That saw a 29% increase in search volume, as well as gaining the superhero just under 30 million Instagram tags.
Sarah Allsop, creative manager at Party Delights, commented: “It is no surprise to see the likes of Super Mario and Barbie become extremely popular with younger demographics again with the new cinematic releases this year.
“The release of a film featuring an iconic or well-known character always propels them back into the mainstream and from what we can see, that has very much been the case with these franchises.
“Similarly, it’s clear that the release of popular video games is also having this effect as Hogwarts Legacy, in particular, has proved.”
