Barbie: “You hear whatever you’re thinking”: Oh Barbie or Oh F viral Toy Story 3 clip leaves the internet divided

A scene from the movie Toy Story 3, involving the characters Barbie and Ken, is now going viral on TikTok. The newfound auditory illusion in this scene has left the internet confused. After a TikTok user shared their bewilderment regarding the scene, others are rewatching the clip to listen carefully to what is actually being said.

The scene in question has the character Ken tied to some toy furniture while Barbie is seen ripping apart one of his favorite shorts – Hawaiian surf trunks. It causes Ken to yell in defeat and deliver a dialog which has led to the auditory illusion. He exclaims:

“Oh Barbie, those were vintage!”

But in a recent video, TikTok user @kittyfeeley uploaded the same clip from the film and asked netizens whether they heard Ken say, “Oh Barbie” or “Oh f**k”. Millions of users are now listening to the clip and coming back on TikTok to share their reactions, resulting in the trend going viral.

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One user compared the audio to another viral YouTube video where two distorted sounds could be heard. Some could hear "Green needle" while others heard "Brainstorm." The user mentioned that people hear what they're thinking at the moment.

A fan reacts to the viral trend (Image via TikTok/@kittyfeeley)

Did others even hear "Oh Barbie" at all?

Since the TikTok upload, the video has gained over 26 million views and 2.4 million likes. However, the auditory illusion still hasn't been cleared. It continues to trick people into hearing different words.

While some of them said they heard both versions on separate takes, others were conflicted about only hearing “Oh f**k”.

Someone wrote that they can hear both, depending on which word they were thinking about.

Another user emphasized their confusion, saying they could hear both. User @Sam Erix, who could grasp “Oh f**k” first, commented on how he can now hear only “Oh Barbie”.

Many users compared this to the Yanny and Laurel auditory illusion.

However, in the original audio from the movie, Ken only ever utters the phrase, “Oh Barbie!”

What is an auditory illusion?

An auditory illusion is when a person perceives a sound or sounds that are sometimes not even present in the original scenario.

Simply put, it’s an audio or a piece of sound playing tricks with people’s minds. In these cases, people usually hear only the sound their mind concentrates on.

The new Laurel or Yanny?

Several TikTok users have compared the new Barbie video to the Laurel and Yanny phenomenon that emerged back in 2018, when a short audio clip had users confused about whether they could hear "Yanny" or "Laurel" or anything similar to these two sounds at all.

In a Twitter poll, 53 percent voted for hearing "Laurel" while the other 47 percent claimed to hear ‘Yanny’.

According to an analysis based on the frequencies of the sound, both the sounds "Yanny" and "Laurel" are present in the audio. Those who focused on the higher frequency could hear "Yanny" and those who focused on the lower sounds heard "Laurel."

In a YouTube video, neuroscientist Tyler Perrachione explained that the clip is distorted and said it has more than the usual high-frequency information in it.