Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Forget Miley Cyrus. Check Out Disney's Chinese Underwear Ad.

Oy vey!

Disney has its hands full especially with this unauthorized print ad for Disney undergarments for girls. I'd say that it is 10 times worse than the Cyrus picture, which isn't even for Disney nor has Disney's brand name.

I was walking from my Beijing bed-and-breakfast to a nearby subway station when I was stopped in my tracks by a billboard that made the controversial 1990s Calvin Klein underwear ads look artistic by comparison. Staring down at the throngs of shoppers on Beijing's Xinjiekou Nandajie Avenue, a busy commercial thoroughfare about a mile west of the Forbidden City, was a white girl who looked all of 12, reclining in a matching bra-and-panties set adorned with Disney's signature mouse-ear design. In a particularly creepy detail, the pigtailed child was playing with a pair of Minnie Mouse hand puppets. In the upper left-hand corner was the familiar script of the Disney logo.


Anyone doing business in China should be aware of this, that in many aspect, it really is the Wild, Wild East. Even a company as big and powerful as Disney, they still can't control all of their subcontractors.

Zz.

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