Brand Cult: Disney 'Princess' Wedding Dresses

Boing Boing and The Disney Blog reports:

Disney is launching a line of $1,100 - $2,900 "Princess" wedding dresses. Talk about life-cycle marketing -- from tiny costume dresses for the toddler, all the way up to the wedding gown. I smell money.

*But waitaminnit, what about the fellas?!? Maybe some dudes dream of getting married in an Aladdin suit (or rather, maybe their brides dream about having the dude get married in an Aladdin suit).

Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo said he expected the dresses to be a hit among brides to be, especially given the increasing popularity of weddings at Walt Disney World, the site of about 2,000 nuptials each year.

"If you do 2,000 weddings a year, think of all the people who say, 'I can't, I have to get married in my hometown, my own church,' but they certainly may still have that princess dream as part of it," Rasulo said.

While I personally find this proposition a bit creepy, I marvel at Disney's constant ability to deepen their experience and milk dough outta the franchise characters. Brilliant.

For related, see Forever Branded archives

Trend: User-Created: Forever Branded Part Deux

Jim Dozier (nicknamed “Doz”) was so enamored with the idea of a film about deadly reptiles loose on a commercial airliner that he had its logo prominently tattooed on his left bicep - before he’d even seen the movie! Read his 15-minutes of fame interview on Best Week Ever.

AKI COMMENT: The funniest part is homies' Wookie-state of hair on his arm (which clearly had to get shaved to clear some space for this tattoo. I love America...sigh.

Trend: User-Created: Forever Branded

Peter McBride can take off his polo shirt and maintain his preppy image. McBride, 22, has a Polo pony tattooed on his chest. The idea came to him as he was waiting in line behind a man at a D.C. tattoo parlor: "I noticed his polo shirt and made my decision." McBride's whimsy notwithstanding, his decision is increasingly common. Gaje Pou, a New York City tattoo artist, says getting inked with designer or corporate logos is "definitely getting more acceptable." Logo requests range from Chanel and Gucci to Windows and PlayStation.


via Newsweek

AKI COMMENT: I'm considering tattooing some Adidas stripes on my feet. That way, I am always properly laced even at the poolside.