In 2000, the Mattel Corporation — manufacturers of the Barbie Doll and all of her various associates and accessories — finally became aware of Aqua's hit tune, which contained such salacious lyrics as "You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere" and "I'm a blonde bimbo girl in a fantasy world," apparently in reference to their squeaky-clean creation. Looking straight past a disclaimer on the liner notes for "Aquarium" stating explicitly that Mattel did not in any way endorse the song, the company's head honchos threw down their hats and stomped on them, then filed a lawsuit against MCA claiming ... well, anything its lawyers could think of.
Speaking with Rolling Stone, the band's lawyer Russell Frackman — presumably failing to keep a straight face — said, "The lawsuit had 11 different claims. They pretty much threw the kitchen sink at us ... They even claimed that [Aqua] infringed on what they called 'Barbie Pink.'" Lene Nystrøm called the suit "hilarious," pointing out that it only served to raise the song's profile yet further, while Søren Rasted put on his conspiracy theory hat to claim that the whole thing was organized between Mattel and MCA for publicity. In any event, after two years of litigation, Judge Alex Kozinski ruled in favor of the music label in 2002, concluding his opinion with the illest mic drop to ever be issued in a judicial ruling: "The parties are advised to chill." In a bizarre footnote to the whole thing, Mattel in 2009 licensed "Barbie Girl" (with modified lyrics, of course) to use in a new Barbie advertising campaign. Nystrøm's response to this was elegant in its simplicity: "That's what they should have done from the start."
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