Connections: It’s Not ‘The Nutcracker’
We’ve heard a lot these days about fake news and know that cyberspace is crowded with misinformation — and disinformation — which often make it hard for anyone to know who and what to believe. But I never expected to find a film on a kids’ TV channel infested with advertising masquerading as a happy holiday production for the whole family.
I fell into the fake-news trap recently when I decided to take a look at Disney’s animated film “Frozen” on the Disney Channel on a night when I was at home alone. I hadn’t accompanied any of the grandchildren to see the smash-hit musical when it came out in 2013 and was intrigued because the kids all seemed able to sing “Let It Go,” the most popular song from it.
I had begun watching a somewhat truncated “Frozen” when suddenly a different production intruded. Red curtains parted, and real live children and adults began “rehearsing” a performance of a pseudo-“Nutcracker.” Honestly, I didn’t realize what was going on, and blithely continued watching “Frozen” until it happened again.
I had expected that a film on the Disney Channel on ABC would be interrupted by advertisements, but I didn’t understand that the performance behind the red curtain was a commercial. Eventually I noticed that before the curtains opened, a prominent bull’s-eye appeared. What followed, interrupting “Frozen,” was an insidious stealth holiday-marketing campaign by Target.
It turns out that holiday performances have been used as TV advertising by Kmart, Macy’s, and Victoria’s Secret, although the first two are brief and make the source of what you are watching evident quickly. Viewers don’t learn it’s a Victoria’s Secret commercial unless they watch the scantily clad, gyrating dancers to the very end.
Target’s publicists had announced: “In past years, guests loved following the ongoing adventures of a variety of characters — including our beloved mascot, Bullseye — in Target’s holiday marketing campaigns, whether it was a trip to Wonderland with Alice, or a magical journey to light up a tree.”
“This year, we’re turning up the dial on our storytelling by raising the curtain on a Broadway-style production. Our top toys of the season team up with celebrity friends. . . .” Not only does John Legend appear as the Rat King, but his wife, Chrissy Teigen, a writer and television personality, is in it, too. They were on hand for the New York City premiere of “The Toycracker” (which is what Target calls its “take on the classic story”) early this month, before its TV debut on Sunday night.
I’m sorry. I love Broadway-style musicals, but the blurring of the line between kids’ programming and advertising is a sad commentary on the culture of our times.