pressing-单片眼镜
How Disney grew its $$3 billion Mickey Mouse
business–by selling to adults
迪士尼是如何让成年人爱上米老鼠的?
In March 2019,
Gucci began selling a $$4,500 purse in the shape of
Mickey Mouse’s head.
Between the creature’s
round black ears is a small handle embossed (凸印)
with the word “Gucci.”
On the brand’s website,
a male model stares seriously into the camera
without the slightest trace of
irony (讽刺) that
he is, in fact, carrying around the head of a
children’s cartoon character.
It’s perhaps the
most luxurious Mickey Mouse products designed for
adults. ____1____
Maybelline created makeup
sets with packaging covered in Mickey’s face.
Uniqlo made dozens of
graphic T-shirts with
Mickey in various poses. So as not to miss out on
the action, Apple launched
$$300 Beats
headphones that paid homage to (向……致敬) the Mouse.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Mickey
Mouse and his friends sold $$3 billion in
merchandise (周边商品) in 2018, a figure that
includes both adult and children’s products.
This brings up the question: Why would adults
wear items decorated with the face of a smiling
rodent in the first place? What accounts for
the enduring appeal of this anthropomorphized
(拟人化
的) mouse, while other Disney characters,
such as Anna from Frozen, hardly ever appear in
adult
products?
Mickey Mouse was big
business almost as soon as he made his debut
(首次亮相) in Walt
Disney’s animated short
Steamboat Willie (《汽船威利号》) in 1928. Within five
years, Mickey
was earning $$1 million a year in
merchandise sales. These products were largely
targeted at children,
including stuffed toys,
trains, and nursery (托儿所) wallpaper.
Everything changed in the years after
World War II. ____2____ For one thing, Mickey was
nearly twenty years old, which meant that the
first audience, who enjoyed the cartoons as
children,
were now in their thirties. Disney
was willing to transform Mickey into a symbol of
innocence in
the postwar years, when people
were desperate for something hopeful to cling to.
All the marketing worked. In 1947, products
featuring Disney characters brought in $$100
million in revenue (收益) in merchandise. In
addition to kids’ products, many of the items sold
were
for adults, such as radios and
phonographs (留声机).
____3____ He made Mickey’s
face and body rounder, and eyes larger, like those
of a baby.
Scientists have shown that adults
are more drawn to childlike faces. That look is
more likely to
subconsciously (潜意识地) produce a
greater level of attachment in the viewer.
____4____ . For instance, the company has done
everything in its power to ensure that they do
not use images of Mickey drinking and smoking.
By and large, though, the symbolism Mickey
represents is the one Disney has put forth: that
of innocence and positivity. ____5____ . In
World War II, people used Mickey to help cope with
the horrors before them. This might also help
explain why Mickey Mouse has been popular over
the past few years when many people are
experiencing political instability.
（节选自FastCompany）
A. Over the decades,
Disney is always sensitive about how brands
portray Mickey when it
licenses his face.
B. Why was this effective at getting adults’
attention?
C. This is perhaps why adults seem
drawn to him during times of trouble.
D. At
that point, demand for products bearing Mickey’s
face among adults decreased.
E. But it’s just
one of many that has flooded the market.
F.
Disney kept developing the character to make him
more and more universally appealing.
G.
Disney’s goal was clearly to make the character
universally known and loved.
词汇：
ate★
adj. (~ for) needing or wanting sth. very much
非常需要……的，极其需
要……的
e.g. Our team is
desperate for a win to raise the
players’confidence.
2. cling to▲ to continue
to believe or do sth., even though it may not be
true or useful any
longer 坚持（信念或希望）
e.g.
Lily clings to the hope that she would find her
birth mother.
3. attachment★ n. a feeling
that you like or love sb. or sth. and that you
would be unhappy
without them 喜爱，依恋
e.g. A
child’s attachment to its mother is natural.
→ attach v. 喜欢，依恋
4. license v. to give
official permission for sb. to do or produce sth.,
or for an activity to take
place 批准，认可
e.g. This restaurant is licensed to sell
alcohol.
→ licence n. 许可证，执照
答案：1.E
2.D 3.F 4.A 5.C