Princess Merida, the young Scottish girl who broke tradition and took a decidedly feminist stand against being married off to the winner of an archery competition in Disney’s “Brave” (by using her kick-ass marksmanship skills to win her own hand) has officially been inducted into the sacred sisterhood of the Disney Princesses, taking her place alongside the likes of Cinderella, Belle, and Ariel.

But before Merida could join the ranks of her more mature counterparts, she had to undergo quite a makeover. First, her dress — a functional frock, suitable for her outdoor adventures, was replaced by a much brighter, frillier, more low-cut number, reminding young girls that looks trump comfort. And because there’s nothing feminine or damsel-like about packing heat, her beloved bow and arrows were apparently confiscated.

Equally disturbing were the changes that were made to her previously young-girl-like figure: her waist had clearly been cinched and her bust noticeably increased, she was given flirtatious lashes and rosier cheeks, and her adventurous, slightly defiant-looking smile gave way to a sultry smirk. After critics lambasted the made-over Merida for over-sexualizing what was supposed to be a young girl to whom real young girls could relate, Disney quietly pulled the image from their website and replaced it with the Pixar original.

We’re not surprised the backlash was so intense, because while we agree that the over-sexualization was a major problem, we think it went beyond that. Read more

The factory collapse that killed more than 1,100 people in Bangladesh this April is by no means the first tragedy to strike the garment industry in recent years—but it does look like the culmination of an ongoing PR challenge that could reshape the way major clothing brands market their products. The earliest evidence of this change comes on social media, where companies that had operations in the factory have already begun responding to the demands of consumers and labor activists.

The New York Times reports that many businesses and industry groups now plan to follow the food industry’s example by offering the public more detailed information about how and where their clothes are made. H&M and Zara have agreed to sign a new “factory safety accord,” and major names like Disney, Nike, and Walmart may follow with campaigns designed to appropriate the “green,” “organic,” and “fair trade” themes favored by food and household goods marketers in recent years. The purpose of this material, of course, will be to highlight the brands’ corporate social responsibility efforts and distance them from horrific accidents like the one in Bangladesh.

It’s nothing new for fashion: upstarts like American Apparel began using their own “fair trade” practices as key selling points some time ago. Yet, despite AA’s success, retailers like Maggie’s Organics and Everlane (tagline “Luxury Basics. Radical Transparency.”) remain few and far between.

Not for long.

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Ugh, we hate to see brands like Disney suffer the consequences of not providing the public with the “transparency” it demands. Pleasing millions of finicky fans seems so simple on the surface: it’s all about respect and communication, right?

Well, not even the most well-intentioned communicator is successful all of the time. Just ask your significant other. Also: when a person or brand forgets to mention certain important details, the public has a dangerous and instinctual tendency to fill in the blanks on its own.

That’s how conspiracies are born. By not providing enough evidence to prove your case to the public, you leave the door open for wackos and well-meaning but misinformed “advocates” to take control of the narrative. Case in point: Disney’s recent decision to require all children entering any of its parks to be supervised by someone at least 14 years old. Said parks will continue to be “the happiest place[s] on Earth”–for kids traveling with legally viable guardians.

Wait…how was this ever NOT a rule?

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We have a feeling the team responsible for promoting the upcoming Disney flick Oz the Great and Powerful cringed when watching this BBC interview with star Mila Kunis, in which she and a very nervous correspondent discuss Jägerbombs, Baywatch, UK football and the art of pouring a pint with no foam.

At the same time, we have little doubt that this was indeed the most interesting interview Kunis gave on her press junket–and it even makes us slightly more interested in her movie. Shouldn’t we all encourage clients to be a little more personable when speaking to the press?

On second thought, we probably shouldn’t…

Oh hey, did you hear about the incredible growth of the United States’ Latino population? So did Barack Obama‘s re-election campaign, the Republican House majority and every entertainment brand in the Western hemisphere. Today brings news of Univision and Disney joining forces to create a 24-hour news/entertainment channel called Fusion that will cater to Latinos. Wait, isn’t Univision already a 24-hour channel for Latinos? Why yes it is!

This new brand, however, would serve those with deep Latin heritage who either predominately or exclusively speak English at home and who probably only watch Univision “if they’re at their grandmother’s house” (ha ha). It’s the same audience sought by the brand new Fox News Latino brand. So where did members of this mysterious demographic get their news and entertainment in the past? From the same channels as every other English-speaking American.

The question: can brands benefit from catering to this very specific audience? They certainly seem to think so.

PR pros: have you worked on campaigns targeting English-speaking Latino Americans? How do the relevant messages differ from those intended for the general public?

Today in This Is Actually Kind of Cool News: Disney‘s latest film, Wreck-It-Ralph, takes place in a time when video game graphics weren’t quite so hyper-realistic. Those with a fondness for the pixelated, two-dimensional days of “Super Mario Brothers” and “The Legend of Zelda” will love the company’s latest PR stunt:

In order to promote the film, Disney enlisted artist Aden Hynes and creatives at London’s Truman Brewery to turn the town’s “infamous” Brick Lane into “8-Bit Lane” by filling the block with old-school Nintendo-style reproductions of everyday objects like clouds, pigeons and taxi cabs.

The company then promoted its efforts with a hashtag push and a free public tour of the block. Video after the jump.

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The House of Mouse in California is in the midst of a public relations conundrum.

Disneyland is now taking pictures of its guests—including children—in an effort to crack down on the illegal use of multi-day passes.

Disneyland claims that third party “scalpers” often buy the tickets, which cost $205 for three days, then rent them at elevated prices to park-goers on one-time visits. While both parties benefit from this setup, Disney, of course, is upset over the specter of lost profits.

So by taking pictures of multi-ticket holders as they enter the park and comparing those faces each time that same ticket is scanned, Disneyland aims to stop the abuse of its “park hopper” tickets by denying entry to anyone whose face doesn’t match that of the original ticket holder.

This strategy poses several PR concerns for the Disney, though. To many, the brand no longer represents a magical kingdom that brings joy and imagination to children but a capitalistic monolith that leverages its cultural influence to bring itself greater profits at the expense of cash-strapped families. And let’s face it: this crack down isn’t going to help the latter image.

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We used to think of LinkedIn as an ugly, awkward place for us to post a resume that no one would ever see. But it’s looking a lot better these days, and the advent of company pages and groups turned the site into a great PR tool. Yesterday LinkedIn released a SlideShare presentation highlighting the best company pages of 2012 and offering some tips on making your company or client’s page better — it’s a useful read for anyone involved in branding.

A few brief observations and suggestions:

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The public feels a unique combination of respect, envy and resentment toward celebrities. This is nothing new.

But thanks to the wonders of social media, we’re closer to the stars we love and hate than ever before. Now a new company wants to revolutionize the celebrity PR game via social media–and it’s making publicists and agents all over Hollywood very nervous.

What is TheAudience? It’s an alternately “stealthy” and “mysterious” startup backed and promoted by two of the biggest names in the West Coast media world: Napster/Facebook co-founder Sean Parker (who you may know as Justin Timberlake) and Hollywood super-agent Ari Emanuel (who you may know as Jeremy Piven).

But its driving force is Oliver Luckett, a former programmer, Disney PR man and full-color personality whose hobbies, according to The New York Times, include driving around LA in an Aston Martin and traveling to Iceland (our new favorite country) “to to compete against Bjork in a gingerbread house-building contest”. We like the guy already! His key selling point? He’s figured out a way around the traditional Hollywood PR system.

What does TheAudience do, exactly? The company effectively manages the social media presence of celebrities who don’t have the time (or interest) to do it themselves. But this is no automated status update machine: Team members feed fans a steady stream of content via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google Plus, keeping them occupied with exclusive comments, pictures and videos.

The key difference between old-school PR services and this newfangled arrangement is that the content truly does come from the celebrities themselves:

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Anyone notice that Minnie Mouse is looking a bit…slimmer these days? If so, you probably caught a glimpse of Barney’s newest promo campaign, “Electric Holiday”. This collaborative project is the closest you’ll get to an all-out marriage of classic Disney characters and the cartoonish personalities who populate the world of international fashion.

Barney’s CEO Mark Lee unveiled his company’s newest PR offensive yesterday at the retailer’s Madison Avenue flagship store with the help of Disney CEO Bob Iger, fashion icon Sarah Jessica Parker, and a certain mousy celebrity (who thankfully appeared as the full-sized Minnie).

The campaign, based on Disney’s classic “Main Street Electrical Parade”, drew a bit of criticism for transforming Mickey’s lovably round soul mate–and her friends Snow White and Daisy Duck–into waif-thin caricatures of modeldom. There’s little doubt that the unbelievably slender characters depicted embody a physically impossible fantasy land filled with pouting divas, desperate paparazzi and snooty, unforgiving tastemakers…

Oh wait–we just described the fashion industry, didn’t we? Check out these pictures direct from the Barney’s window display and see for yourself:

Minnie shows more than a little leg

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