Goofy Nectarines? The Incredibles Apple Slices? Disney food at your market.

 

There's been a lot of talk lately around a new Disney program that puts licensed characters like Cinderella, Mickey Mouse and Tinkerbell on products in your grocery stores. In fact, there's a Disney Garden partnership with Imagination Farms specifically to market food to children 4 to 12 years of age who are huge influencers on their family purchase patterns. I'm not surprised that Disney formed this partnership after their long-standing agreement with McDonald's to use their characters on Happy Meal toys ended - it's a well-known fact that young children have purchase power, even at 4 years old.

Whenever you talk about marketing to children there are a lot of strong opinions, and this time they're on both sides of the debate.

For me personally, and some of the folks I've heard from, we'd rather not see Disney Princesses or other characters in the grocery store. We want our children to love pears and asparagus because they taste good (and hopefully someday because they know how good they are for them!). But we also come from the parenting perspective that we don't want advertisers telling our children what they like, want or need - and do our best to remove advertisements from our family (disclosure: yes, I'm in marketing and have spent the last 10 or so years in advertising).

But there's another side which is really important for some families. In these homes, there's not a true love for fruits and vegetables, and other foods that are necessary for growing bodies. And there might be little fans of these characters showing up on produce stickers or packaging. For these parents, the priority is to get nutritious food eaten by their children - no matter what that means. If your daughter loves Tinkerbell, she just might eat a Tinkerbell Green Bean.

So, how do you feel about Disney selling food to your kids? Is it really different than McDonald's marketing Happy Meals to children? Why? Are you thankful that Disney is helping you get fruits and vegetables into your child's diet?

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Comments

[Alix]

Well, I love Walt Disney, what a genius, and Walt Disney World. But I have no interest in Disney or McDonalds selling food to my kids. I prefer organic whole foods and avoid high fructose corn syrup, as well as many processed foods. Unfortunately our world is full of many pretty packaged things aimed at our children. But that doesn't mean it's good for them. I don't buy it and I won't buy it.

[disney world]

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