Branding Expert Warns Rachel Zegler Could Sink 'Snow White' Film

Disney has recorded around $900 million in losses over its last eight films, a trend it hopes to reverse by the time it releases the live-action film Snow White in March 2024.

Yet branding expert Carla Speight warns the film could instead escalate Disney's struggles.

Specifically, she says comments from actress Rachel Zegler, who will play Snow White, could cut off longtime fans of the franchise.

According to Speight:

Whilst it's been clear that the original Disney Princess films hold old values, Disney have fallen for the trap of going to the opposite extreme to inflict strong and loaded messaging on the viewers - believing that's empowerment
'There was a time when Disney actors were media trained and were thoughtful about the impact of their words, whilst sticking to key messaging about the films, but it seems with this total rewrite of Snow White, picturing her as a "boss girl" has gone to the heads of their stars.
'Disney will need to be careful with how they have portrayed Snow White and what they do and don't allow their actors to say about it going forwards. They simply cannot repeat the same mistakes and allow their actors to be so vocal in their own personal opinions during promotions.
'It can have a huge impact on ticket sales, especially with the amount of negative backlash so early in the promo trail.' 

The branding experts reference comments from Zegler over the weekend in which she criticized how the 1937 film portrayed the love story between White and the Prince.

"I mean, you know, the original cartoon came out in 1937 and very evidently so. There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her," Zegler said.

"Weird! Weird. So we didn’t do that this time."

https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1690588204603215872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1690588204603215872%7Ctwgr%5E58cf1490dcad8142783842218553f56d5e857413%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fmedia%2Fanother-resurfaced-clip-snow-white-star-knocking-1937-love-story-draws-backlash-literally-stalks-her

"We have a different approach to, what I’m sure a lot of people will assume is a love story, just because we cast a guy in the movie, Andrew Burnap, great dude. It’s one of those things that I think everyone’s going to have their assumptions about what it’s going to be, but it’s really not about the love story at all, which is really, really wonderful," she adds

"Whether or not she finds love along the way is anybody's guess until 2024. All of Andrew's scenes could get cut. Who knows? It's Hollywood, baby."

She seems pleasant.

The film also chose to cast a group of non-dwarfs to portray the Seven Dwarfs. Disney says its decision to cast normally-sized performers as dwarfs is a means to avoid offensive stereotypes.

In fact, the studio says the film will refer to the "Seven Dwarfs" as "Magical Creatures" for the same reason.

"To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community. We look forward to sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period," a Disney spokesperson previously told The Hollywood Reporter. 

Sounds like dwarf appropriation.

The film debuts March 22, 2024. And Disney best hope the phenomenon of consumers "Bud Lighting" corporations that espouse unpopular political messaging is no longer a trend.

In addition to moviegoers rejecting Disney films to the tune of $900 million in losses, 2023 also saw consumers sink the market value of Bud Light and Targe for its political and social messaging.

As we concluded in a column last week, the vocal minority controls perception but the silent majority controls results.

And the silent majority has come to reject Disney for the very type of offputting marketing that now defines the upcoming film, Snow White and the Magical Creatures.