[ SECRET POST #2598 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2598 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 031 secrets from Secret Submission Post #371.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[duaedesigns]

Yeah. It's just one of those where people love to bring out statistics and numbers and "But they have plenty of..." When the public consciousness is that the stuff Disney's spending all their marketing on and that they see everywhere is the biggest most important part. It's like arguing that Buzz Buzz the Bee is just as important as Mickey Mouse when people aren't going to the parks to buy bee costumes.

[chardmonster]

Yes, but: isn't the demographic watching the shows much larger than the demographic buying a lot of merch or going to the park? Is the park--where only people of certain means can go--really that important in the first place?

If we're going to worry about girls writ large, should we really bother focusing on girls whose parents can take them to very expensive theme parks? Is the kid with a pile of princess merch the one who's really at risk?

[duaedesigns]

I know the sales numbers on the merchandise vs. the individual movies is much higher, probably because it's easier for a parent to drop a dollar or two on some stickers or lip gloss than to spend $20+ on a trip to the movies.

And kids are easily influenced by advertising. They've done studies where they've taken the same generic food thing, like an apple sliced up, put one of the slices in a plain container and another in a McDonalds looking container and all of the kids said the "McDonalds" apple slice was much better than the other. The same happens with Disney advertising.

I mean, Cinderella was a cute movie, but I'm really expected to believe that kids today like that movie so much better than Aladdin? Without any outside advertising?

[chardmonster]

I mean, Cinderella was a cute movie, but I'm really expected to believe that kids today like that movie so much better than Aladdin? Without any outside advertising?

Two things:

1. Yeah, I think they really might like it more. It's a simple story that's easy for a little kid to understand (that is, even simpler than Aladdin), it has pretty dresses and a castle that is similar to other pretty dresses and castles, and it's wildly popular. You also have to factor in the straight to dvd sequels, which are newer than Aladdin. It's also a more familiar story. Cinderella isn't just Disney Cinderella; it's a fairy tale they might have heard about outside the movie. I can't really say the same for Aladdin--how many kids do you know are into the Arabian Nights? This is why I was really happy the first black princess was in a movie called "The Princess and the Frog." A lot of kids know The Frog Prince, so the story isn't coming out of nowhere.

2. Are the kids the ones making merch decisions? I'd argue that in a lot of cases no, they aren't. Adults are buying them stuff that reminds them of their own childhoods. And that doesn't even account for the adults who buy stuff for themselves--see the huge Disney Princess fandom.

If you look at Disney media kids are more likely to find on their own--like cable TV shows--it seems to be a lot more diverse. Is the problem the way Disney markets directly to kids? Or the fact that Disney is really marketing to their parents?

[chardmonster]

Another thing--two of the POC princesses, Mulan and Pocahontas, aren't really "princesses." I mean that you can't really "play princess" with these characters. Mulan's a warrior figure (obviously not only one, but remember that we're talking about little girls who aren't really up to dealing with complex themes yet) and Pocahontas just doesn't LOOK like a "princess." She's not wearing a pretty dress (her dress is pretty, but not dress up pretty, if that makes sense? It looks too normal) and she spends the movie talking about understanding and nature, not "princess stuff." Pocahontas is less "princessy" than even Merida in Brave, who is actively disliking princess things. It's much more likely that a kid is going to want to dress up like Tiana, who is wearing a princess dress. Or Cinderella. Or Ariel.