Page 108 - The Disneyization of Society

MERCHANDISING

exploited by the merchandising deals. Nonetheless, a promotional tie-in with
Coca-Cola became the focus of controversy when she was accused of associating
herself and her literary works with a product that may harm children’s teeth. 83 99
Although she claimed that the tie-in was being used to promote children’s liter-
acy, the case of the Harry Potter and Coca-Cola tie-in demonstrates that mer-
chandising can easily become a focus of controversy. Similarly, some football
clubs have been accused of over-merchandising and of exploiting fans. Parents of
football-crazy children have long felt they were being exploited by clubs which
changed their strips (jerseys, shorts, and socks) regularly in order to reap mer-
chandise profits and this has led to a fall in sales. 84 The sheer range of products
associated with the Manchester United brand (the most powerful football brand
in the world after Real Madrid) has also led to accusations of them taking advan-
tage of fans. 85
Excessive merchandising can lead to accusations or feelings of commercialism
which can taint and harm a venture. It has been suggested that one reason why
Hercules was a less successful film for Disney than its predecessors was that its
tie-ins and merchandise made it seem according to a Los Angeles Times writer ‘less
as a movie than as a giant marketing venture’. 86 Even the self-parody in the film
of a Hercules Store stuffed full of animated Hercules merchandise could not quell
the sense of marketing overkill. 87 Indeed, many of the respondents in the Global
Disney Audience Project (see Box 3.1) found the growing commercialism of the
company, as revealed in merchandising, something that respondents found dis-
tasteful and felt was dangerous for children. While the Disney merchandise items
that interviewees themselves had received as children were remembered fondly,
they tended to feel that the current Disney marketing policy went too far. Also,
the synergistic links between films, theme parks, merchandise and advertising
were often seen as manipulative. However, it should be appreciated that the inter-
viewees in each country were university students, who might be expected to have
a more critical stance. Similarly, the rock concert Woodstock ’94, which was
meant to reprise the famous event of the 1960s, was criticised for being too com-
mercial because of the volume of concert merchandise on sale. 88
Owners of the rights to license copyright images and logos, like the protectors
of brands more generally, have to be sensitive to the possibility of extending them
to products that could be deemed inappropriate to the brand. The extension of
the Harley-Davidson images and logos to toiletries was regarded by many as a failure.
As the managing partner of one marketing consultancy argued: ‘How could they
take an icon of liberation, something that was all about feeling the wind in your
hair, and put it on a cheap product, in pseudo-macho packaging?’ 89
A major problem for those involved in merchandising and licensing is that
fashions change. Themed restaurant t-shirts and replica football shirts no longer
90
represent the fashion statements that they did in the mid-1990s. Princess Diana
memorabilia, which had been the subject of a court case, were faring poorly by