Originally Posted By danyoung >Um yea, im SURE DIGITALLY putting in Cinderella Castle in Walts opening day speech in BLACK AND WHITE was a 'mistake'.< Well, I haven't seen the commercial, so I guess I can't give an educated comment on it. Other than it's no different than the commercial with the little boy who opens the window of his room in the Grand Floridian and sees the castle about 150 feet away! It's artistic license, and not a plot in any way. And I'd just about guarantee you (even tho I haven't seen the spot, mind you) that they didn't in any way say that WDW was 50 years old. I'd bet they said they wanted you to come visit during Disney's 50th celebration, the same language that they've used all along. Get some help, otown.
Originally Posted By DLFAN79 'Get some help, otown.' I did. I was at DL for 6 days and then i had to come back...
Originally Posted By vbdad55 I was there for 4 days ( parts of at least) and hadn't been there in over 5 years- maybe more. I couldn't believe how much things had improved, as DL also had a down period from a maintenance standpoint. It can be done. Maybe it was because I had been away so long but the park never looked better, IMHO !
Originally Posted By danyoung OK, so I finally saw the commercial in question. And while I still feel that there's no sinister plot to make people forget Disneyland, the spot was pretty suspect. As Otown said, using Walt giving his 1955 speech as WDW's Main Street drift behind him is pretty misleading. And they talk about coming to WDW to celebrate 50 years of magic, with the clear indication that WDW is 50 years old. It seems like such a mishmash of information and marketing, and I don't understand why Disney feels that they need to do it this way. Unless it's as I said - the marketing folks either don't know or don't care about the legacy of the company beyond what they can cobble together for the next high visibility TV spot.
Originally Posted By LuvDatDisney ^^^I agree DanYoung. I just saw the spot for the first time today. It clearly is designed to make you think Walt was at WDW and the park is celebrating its 50th. You say it's suspect. I say it's guilty ---- of very &^*-poor marketing. It's a very tacky, cheap way of trying to leech off of DL's B-Day. What's worse is they already have the Happiest Celebration going on. There's no need for showing a giant 50 over Cindy's Castle with no explanation. Any person, who's not a Disney CM or huge fan, would logically assume WDW is 50 this year. REally shoddy ad campaign.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Remember...this is the same company that printed a Golden Celebration book on sale at WDW that stated this quote on it's first line.."When Disneyland opened 50 years ago on May 5th, 1955....
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost My take was this...I wasn't in the least bothered by the image of Walt Disney and the WDW Castle behind (actually along side). My vision didn't ever connect it as one and the same. The fact is that without Walt opening Disneyland with those words 50 years ago there would not be a WDW today, so in some respects it is one in the same. I did, however, notice the direct implication that WDW was 50 years old and absolutely no mention that it was Disneyland that had the birthday. That was misleading and dumb, IMHO! All that needed to be mentioned was something like, "We are doing something special to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Disneyland, the place that started it all"
Originally Posted By trekkeruss I've seen it a few times now... twice tonight. I guess I am not an uber-fan or something, because it really doesn't bother me.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> they pass off these innacurate commercials like turkey legs from a stand. << Can I use this analogy at a future business process meeting?
Originally Posted By danyoung >I wasn't in the least bothered by the image of Walt Disney and the WDW Castle behind (actually along side). My vision didn't ever connect it as one and the same.< >I guess I am not an uber-fan or something, because it really doesn't bother me.< And there you have it, folks. As I've said, it's us "uber-fans" who notice it, not the general public. Doesn't make it right, tho.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost I noticed it but just didn't read more into it than was necessary. True the vast, vast majority of the world population wouldn't know the difference between WDW's Castle and DL's Castle. So it is an irrelevant point. Who cares except a handful of us. If I saw nothing else during my visit last week to DLR it was that Disneyland is a local park. It is populated by MOSTLY California Disney-cult people. It is their home playground. Walt Disney World, on the other hand, is a truly universal (no pun intended) park. It is the one that, again, the vast, vast majority identify with. Having Cinderella's Castle in the background isn't really unnatural at any level. Walt Disney and Walt Disney World are completely connected even though it was built after his passing. Who can possibly seriously deny that it wouldn't exist without Mr. Disney's presence on the planet. Roy Sr. certainly wouldn't have been the imagination behind the concept. As I stated before my only objection was the lack of mentioning that it was Disneyland's birthday that was being celebrated.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 "OK, so I finally saw the commercial in question. And while I still feel that there's no sinister plot to make people forget Disneyland, the spot was pretty suspect. As Otown said, using Walt giving his 1955 speech as WDW's Main Street drift behind him is pretty misleading. And they talk about coming to WDW to celebrate 50 years of magic, with the clear indication that WDW is 50 years old. It seems like such a mishmash of information and marketing, and I don't understand why Disney feels that they need to do it this way. Unless it's as I said - the marketing folks either don't know or don't care about the legacy of the company beyond what they can cobble together for the next high visibility TV spot." Yeah, I agree with this. I saw the commercial several times last night, and just had to shake my head. The thing is, I really can't get too upset about it, because it's already out there, and Disney really doesn't give a mouse's behind. They are just another large company these days, and I really can't waste my energy getting too upset about it...however... I think this add is very poor marketing and foolish in the long run. All Disney has done with this add is further dilute the products, and cause more confusion. The general public doesn't care about this, and just assumes that everything means WDW. Disneyland doesn't exist to a lot of people anymore. The company is NOT helping this by blurring the lines. Ultimately they're going to do whatever they want, but if they are trying to get Disneyland recognized as a true destination resort...these ads AREN'T helping! Also, I wonder how many non-Disney fanatics are wondering just how many "celebrations" WDW can have, and how it can turn 100 years old one year and then a few years later be turning 50?
Originally Posted By Fe Maiden I finally saw it. I don't know what people want them to say in a 30 second spot. The point of the commercial is to sell WDW. Throw in Walt, the castle, a couple of people having fun on rides and and there you go. What should happen? Stop the commercial midway through and have some geek take 5 minutes to explain that it's really DL that's 50 yrs old blah, blah, by that time you've lost 99% of the viewers. Mr. and Mrs. America are sitting on their couch, with their face buried in a bowl cheesy poofs, the kids are wrestling on the floor, making a racket so you probably can't even hear the TV. They don't want or need a history lesson about going on vacation. They don't care. Not like we do but, the reality is it's not their problem and it's not Disney's problem. It's ours, well your's because I've let this issue go along time ago. These are the same people who when they are at WDW don't even know where they are half the time. How many times have we rolled our eyes when someone has said, "today we're going to Disney and tomorrow we're going to Epcot."
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 "and how it can turn 100 years old one year " ...because THAT was another poorly executed marketing campaing, not really emphasizing that Walt was the one that was being celebrated, not the parks.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <And there you have it, folks. As I've said, it's us "uber-fans" who notice it, not the general public. Doesn't make it right, tho. < This is exactly the point. How many of the park attendees % wise you think know Walt never set foot in WDW from an open park standpoint. My guess is it would be less than 25% and I'm being kind. what worries me is I wonder how many of this generation of advertising employees also don't know that.....
Originally Posted By Fe Maiden <<what worries me is I wonder how many of this generation of advertising employees also don't know that.....>> My guess is none of them. But I'm not sure why it should matter to them. Unless they're building a campaign around an idea like "Walk in Walt's Footsteps, Come to WDW", where it would clearly be deceptive.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>what worries me is I wonder how many of this generation of advertising employees also don't know that.....<< Even more frightening is that some currently employed CMs do not know that as well...
Originally Posted By LuvDatDisney "And there you have it, folks. As I've said, it's us "uber-fans" who notice it, not the general public. Doesn't make it right, tho." Right, DanYoung. Wrong is wrong. They are trying to make it seem as if WDW is celebrating its 50th B-Day. Sorry, but it's not. No matter who notices it is irrelevent. And yeah, I was wondering how many people would point out that Disney made it seem like it was 100 years old in 2001 and is now half that! Just lousy, sloppy, mispresentational advertising. And as someone with some experience in that field, I can tell you it happens by either incompetence or (usually) just don't giving a damn.
