5/30/2023 0 Comments Disneyland popcorn bucketsMost special merchandise is sold in the park to encourage return visits by fans, she said. "We believe that our products connect guests to stories and characters they want to remember with tangible memories and a sense of nostalgia," Disney spokesperson Liz Jaeger said. In 2010, Disney launched a social media and advertising campaign called “Let the Memories Begin” that encouraged fans to share their videos, photos or stories of trips to Disney World or Disneyland for potential use in future ads. Through advertising, she said, Disney promotes the idea that fans are not standing in line to buy merchandise - they are buying childhood memories of park visits or beloved Disney characters. "These are the people who put Disney at the heart of their lives, during important events like birthdays and weddings," she said. The video has been "liked" by nearly 80,000 viewers.ĭisney collectors are hardcore fans whose "lives revolve around Disney," said Janet Wasko, a University of Oregon media studies professor who wrote a book about Disney's brand appeal. 6, a person wearing Mickey ears sings teasingly, "I know something you don't, I know something you will never know," while gesturing toward a picture of the Figment popcorn bucket in the backdrop. In the TikTok video posted by Disney Parks on Jan. Merchandise releases have become bigger - and more effective - productions in recent years thanks to social media, through which the theme parks or Disney influencers with tens of thousands of followers preview and promote products. That surges when parks offer new souvenirs, clothes and hats that are tied to the opening of a new attraction, an anniversary, the launch of new characters or a holiday celebration. Merchandise sales typically generate about 20% of theme park revenue, industry experts said. Every few years, crowds form to buy limited-edition tiki-style mugs from Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar at Disneyland in Anaheim and Walt Disney World. "I think I really liked collecting sets from my favorite films or favorite attractions so that when I look at them it reminds me of fun memories and makes me feel connected to a place I love," said Johanna Beaven, 25, a marketing assistant in London who has been collecting Disney figurines since age 12.īeaven estimates she has spent more than $2,500 on her collection, which includes several hundred Mickey Mouse-shaped figurines that are emblazoned with the faces of other Disney characters.Īnd then there was the fascination last year over pins marking the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. Plastic figurines become coveted collectibles, selling secondhand on sites such as EBay and Mercari at tremendous markups. They're still selling on the online bidding site EBay for as much as $145.ĭisney fans are notoriously devoted fans, and their commitment extends to merchandise the company strategically doles out to spark brand buzz and bring in big revenue. The buckets went on sale at Epcot's International Festival of the Arts, which opened Jan. So when the company posted a vague teaser ad featuring the dragon on its TikTok channel, which has more than 4.3 million followers, it kicked off the kind of fan frenzy that erupts occasionally over Disney memorabilia. "Combine the two and it’s a perfect chaotic cocktail for capitalism."ĭisney has rarely produced merchandise featuring Figment, a character from an Epcot attraction called Journey Into Imagination that opened in the 1980s. Figment merchandise is rare," said Jay Cisco, a solutions architect from Winter Garden, Fla., who stood in line with hundreds of people on a Friday in January. The buckets sold for $25 for a limited time - limit two per person - and were soon spotted for sale online for as much as $270. The wait time in the queue at Walt Disney World's Epcot theme park was more than six hours, the kind of line that forms for the debut of a high-end attraction.Īwaiting the hundreds of extremely determined fans at the other end: a purple plastic popcorn bucket in the shape of a dragon named Figment.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |