Trending PR Campaigns

The best PR campaigns right now, ranked by coverage. Updated daily.
Top 3 Campaign October 2026
Back
Top 3 Campaign
All Sectors · October 2026

Serena Williams 2005 Australian Open Barbie

PR Campaign
Thursday 8th October, 2026

Mattel released a Serena Williams Barbie wearing the lime green jacket and white skirt Williams wore at the 2005 Australian Open. The doll turns a memorable look from her career into a collectible, with the launch timed ahead of International Day of the Girl and framed around inspiring girls.

Why it worked: It piggybacked International Day of the Girl with a nostalgia-fuelled, photo-identifiable 2005 outfit, plus easy retail/price details for quick coverage.

The lesson: Consider tying a limited, exact replica of a famous moment to a relevant awareness day, with clear buy links and under-$50 pricing.

Mattel Barbie
16 Sources:

Coverage over time

How this story spread across the media

Publication Headline Date
today.com EXCLUSIVE: Serena Williams Reveals Her 2nd Barbie Collab of the Year, and What it Means to Her Daughters Thursday 8th October, 2026
people.com Mattel Honors Serena Williams with a Barbie Doll That Pays Homage to Her 2005 Australian Open Victory Thursday 8th October, 2026
rollingstone.com Barbie Just Served Up a Serena Williams Doll Inspired by Her 2005 Australian Open Look Thursday 8th October, 2026
hollywoodreporter.com Serena Williams Says Her New Barbie Doll Proves a Girl Can 'Become Anything She Chooses' Thursday 8th October, 2026
bustle.com Exclusive: Serena Williams Knows Who She'd Want To Play In A 'Barbie' Sequel Thursday 8th October, 2026
thetoyinsider.com Serena Williams Serves Up Style with New Barbie Doll | The Toy Insider Thursday 8th October, 2026
usatoday.com Serena Williams 'excited' to play with her new signature Barbie doll with daughters Thursday 8th October, 2026
essence.com Serena Williams On Her New Signature Barbie Doll And The Importance Of Representation For Young Black Girls - Essence Thursday 8th October, 2026
thedailyguardian.com New Serena Williams Barbie pays homage to tennis player's 2005 Australian Open victory - The Daily Guardian Thursday 8th October, 2026
deckedoutmagazine.com From 1999 to Now: Celebrating 25 Years of Serena Williams & Barbie - Decked Out Magazine Thursday 8th October, 2026
marca.com Serena Williams refuses to age herself in iconic Barbie throwback | MARCA Friday 9th October, 2026
wtatennis.com Serena Williams honored with Barbie doll to celebrate 2005 AO win Friday 9th October, 2026
sportscapemagazine.com Mattel Releases Serena Williams Barbie Doll Inspired By Her Tennis Career Friday 9th October, 2026
indiatimes.com Mattel honours Serena Williams with a new Barbie doll that celebrates more than tennis glory | International Sports News - The Times of India Sunday 11th October, 2026
goodnewsnetwork.org Barbie Honors Serena Williams with New Signature Doll to Serve Inspiration to Next Generation of Women Tuesday 13th October, 2026
miamiherald.com Serena Williams gets turned into a Barbie doll. Check it out Wednesday 14th October, 2026
Want PR opportunities like this for your brand?
Finchling monitors the news, competitor coverage and upcoming events to uncover timely PR angles and campaign ideas tailored to your brand.

FAQs

What is this?

Every day, brands launch PR campaigns and the media covers them. We scan lots of different news sources and use AI to spot the campaigns behind the stories, and show you which ones are getting the most traction right now. Think of it as a live leaderboard of what's working in PR.

Where does the data come from?

Finchling is a news monitoring tool that analyses lots of news from across the internet.

Does this track sponsored posts, or is it earned media only?

It's built to only track earned media - we use AI to filter out anything that we think is a sponsored placement.

What does "ranked by coverage" mean?

It's ranked by the volume of coverage that talks positively about the campaign. We count the outlets covering it, then give a boost to campaigns whose coverage is positive, and those with negative coverage drop down. We're not weighting by outlet size or reach.

Why isn't my campaign listed?

If you've launched a PR campaign recently and it's not included in here, and you think it should be - drop us a note and we'll investigate.

What's Finchling?

Finchling is the full product behind this page. It finds PR opportunities tailored to your brand - reactive stories to jump on and proactive campaigns to plan. This page is a taste of what Finchling sees every day. If you want the full picture, have a look.