Disney breathlessly defended the innocence of their virginal cash cow Miley
Cyrus (aka: Hannah Montana), describing her topless Vanity Fair photo
shoot thusly: "a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a
15-year-old in order to sell magazines." For shame!
So how
did the spokeperson for all things Disney react when a Slate writer
sent photos of a billboard he saw on a recent trip to China? The
billboard features a girl in pigtails wearing nothing but a Mickey
Mouse bra and underwear set and Minnie Mouse hand puppets. The Disney
signature is stamped prominently in the corner.
Well, the spokesperson said Disney had nothing to do with it.
From Slate:
"It has caught us totally by surprise," [Company spokesman Gary] Foster told me by phone from
Guangzhou. He explained that Disney contracts with a host of licensees,
who produce and market products for the Disney brand. Foster said that
licensees are contractually bound to clear all advertising with
Disney's corporate offices. "We have literally hundreds of licensees
making our products. They are supposed to submit any kind of imagery to
us before it is used, but it's hard to enforce that sometimes," he said.
He assured Slate that the billboard would soon be removed, but also pointed out that the age of consent in China is 14 (compared to 18 in California, the land of Disney). He said Europe also tolerates a little more sexy-sexy from its girls, as well. (American prudes!)
Personally, I see quite a difference in the pictures. Namely, in the Chinese ad the girl is smiling and holding hand puppets. In Vanity Fair, Miley's pouting with half-opened sultry eyes and wrapped in a bed sheet. Those pictures are telling two different stories (though supporting the same thesis: we have a right and a duty to look at naked-ish girls!!!!).
You tell us: what's the best way to (1) sell kiddie undies and (2) artistically interpret the inner-life of a teen pop idol? Obviously, doing neither is simply not an option.
Photo: Slate
