Thursday, October 22, 2009

Disney Is Not Amused

This has nothing to do with spanking, but I couldn't pass it up.

Okay--so, you're a beer company in Australia, and you have a product that you want to sell--Jamieson's Raspberry Ale. in spite of the presence of fruit in the name, you want to get across the idea that this still is beer, not some fruity soda-pop-type concoction. You want the serious beer drinkers out there to know this isn't Kool-Aid--in fact, it's anything but sweet.

So, how do you get the point across?

The Foundry, the ad company charged with creating the compaign, did it this way:



Yes, it's "Ho White and the Seven Dwarves".

The Dwarves were also renamed, supposedly to represent various types of drinkers. So, instead of Sleepy, Happy and Doc, these Dwarves are named Filthy, Smarmy and Randy.

I did some quick searching trying to come up with all seven names, but didn't have any luck.

In what is probably a vast understatement, after the ad came out the company said that it had "a little bit of contact" with Disney. I'm sure it comes as no surprise to anyone out there that the website for the product, anythingbutsweet.com, has apparently been disabled. I think it's safe to assume that all advertising featuring the image has been pulled, as well.

Disney has officialy released no comment.

One paper that featured the story ran a poll asking if people were offended by the ad. The last time I looked, 25% said yes, this was a terrible way to treat a Disney Princess and 75% said they weren't offended, they thought it was funny.

Count me among the 75%.

7 comments:

Richard Windsor said...

Thanks for linking in, Dr. Ken!! Just wait until a few more people do so, I have a feeling hits will go through the roof for everyone :-)

Rich.

Hermione said...

That is very naughty of the Aussies (but also really funny!)

Fruit-flavoured beer seems to be all the rage these days. We have lime-flavoured beer from several companies, and once listened to an hour-long radio phone-in show evaluating the merits of each brand.

Ron wouldn't allow citrus-flavoured beer in the house.

Hugs,
Hermione

Cowgirl said...

I love the Aussies! They are hilarious. Count me in the 75% too.

Ann said...

I, too am among the 75%. But I have to tell you another story about Disney. About 15 years ago, I was working in a fabric store where we sold Disney character printed fabric. After Disney successfully sued not only a crafter (who was making and selling clothes with the fabric--cheaper than Disney!), but a fabric store who sold her the fabric...we had to advise all consumers purchasing the fabric that products made with Disney character fabric could not be sold without Disney's permission and that use of the fabric in "objectional" ways could also be grounds for a lawsuit. :( Drove us all crazy!

Anonymous said...

Funny. Count me in amoung the 75%.

Dr. Ken said...

Richard--you're very welcome!

Hermione--ordinarily, I'd stick to Guiness, but I did get a chance to sample a cherry-wheat blend not too long ago, and was pleasantly surprised. Of course, I'm not much of a beer drinker (or any kind of a drinker, for that matter) so it probably doesn't take much to surprise me....

Cowgirl--they do have a wonderful way of looking at things, don't they? Consider yourself counting....er, counted! :-)

Ann--no real surprise, there. Disney is very protective of their brand.

Anonymous--Glad you thought it was funny!

Jay Walker said...

hahaha thats fab. i always thought that one of the dwarves should be called Spanky.
hugss