Disney contractor sluttifies little girls to sell panties
Thursday May 1, 2008
Categories: Consumerism, Culture
How do you say "Lolita" in Mandarin? A writer for Slate found a billboard in China in which some pubescent lovely is modeling Mickey Mouse underwear: I was walking from my Beijing bed-and-breakfast to a nearby subway station when I...
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About Crunchy Con
Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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If you read the article, you see that this ad did not come from Disney Corporate, but was made by one of the companies they license their products with in China. The writer contacted Disney and the people there made it clear that they did not approve this ad, that they require all ads with their name on them to be approved, that they would never approve this sort of ad, and that based on the product shown they knew exactly which company was responsible for this ad and it would be taken down post haste.
I despise Disney myself, but blaming this on Disney is simply dishonest. This is corporate China at work, NOT corporate America.
No one will care. Unless Disney(or as the above comment shows maybe some other company) is making a Advertisment that panders to all the devious sly hispanics South of the border and here that want to steal our precious bodily fluids in their secret conspiracies of ReConquest(The Absolut Ad) then the right will yawn and their shall be no outcry. Michelle Malkin gets far more hits on such issues as if a TV ad has a few words of Spanish than pedophilla.
Oh, man. Rod, if you are going to link to an article at least read it before your rage-o-meter goes off.
This is not a Disney ad. This is from some company that licenses the Disney name. The author of the article contacted Disney and was told that this ad was not approved by Disney.
That said, this doesn't say much about the company that did put this disturbing billboard up, or perhaps Disney's efforts to police the use of its brand.
Matt, the rage is justified.
It seems to fit the new Disney trampification. Have you seen the tattooed Ariel toy?
http://cockeyed.com/citizen/barbie_tat/ariel_tattoo.shtml
(the link is safe, even if it doesn't look like it)
From the website cited above:
This simple, fluid tattooing style will surely attract all sorts of interest, from village farmboys who yearn to hear her voice to young marine biologists who are combing the beaches for mermaid tail.
Ahem!
WRC,
I think there is a galactic difference between the harmless-looking toy design you point out and the billboard that prompted this post.
In fact, your link was almost comical how much the picture had to zoom in to note the tatoo (its use of really big arrows was funny AND instructive).
Trampification? Come on. There are certainly better and more concrete examples than the one you pointed out. This sort of hyperbole makes social conservatives look like lunatics, and does more harm to them and their cause than they do to the corrosive aspects of this culture.
Why would you assume this is a Disney effort on the tattoo, since there is not evidence from the website that the company is involved?
I updated the title to more accurately reflect the story.
It was a subcontractor. Not that Disney shouldn't pull the ad or be blamed for loose controls, but it is China afterall. We think the ad is offensive because we're aware of the pornification of young girls. In China that isn't a phenomenon. The licensee probably wanted to advertise as many products as possible with one ad, and may not understand why it is offensive when Disney calls to tell them it is offensive.
What I found worse about Disney is on the Disney Channel, where 10 years olds are going on dates. What is up with THAT?
I don't think think I have ever seen a billboard advertising underwear , the markup on underwear must be a lot bigger in China than in Europe. I have heard people occasionally frolick at beaches exposing their belly buttons to one and all in warmer parts of the continent. Scandalous!!!
Rod has once again spotted a typohon in his oolong.
Eleazer, I think a lot of us understand exactly where Rod comes from.
Do you?
WRC, please don't feed the troll. "Eleazer Williams" is the latest pseudonym for Kim Margosein, who was banned from here a long time ago but keeps coming back out of some strange compulsion. I delete his stuff as soon as I see it.
Rod there are nice people like you there too, y'know?
http://howetokruse.blogspot.com/2008/02/orthodox-parish-in-shenzhen.html
It looks like they even airbrushed the model's chest to make it look like she has more "development" than she probably does.
I agree, it's a ridiculous ad.
OTOH, I don't have the same opinion about tattoos. I would not get one; I wouldn't sign for one for an under-18 child of mine. However, kids do like henna and stick-on tattoos; IMO there's nothing wrong with those, or with decorated dolls.
Forget the billborad. Why is Disney licensing Mickey Mouse's ears to make plunge bras for twelve-year-olds in the first place?
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