ChasNote

I guess successful marketing can become too much of a good thing. Last week, Disney shut down Virtual Magic Kingdom, its popular (and free) virtual-reality theme park.

“Disney plans to throw everyone out of VMK and lock the gates — erasing their online profiles, lives and collections of virtual trinkets and real estate. Disney says it never intended the 50th-anniversary promotion to run this long, but money is also a factor: Virtual Magic Kingdom is free, and full access to Disney’s other online game sites — like Club Penguin and Toontown — costs as much as $9.95 a month in the case of Toontown.”

Will the subscription-fee windfall be big enough to recover the lost value in brand-love by a core of its most evangelical supporters?

(Thanks, Matt!)

Caught in the act by AdRants, Disney family resorts ads have been running alongside near-porn photos and content at sites such as Egotastic.

“Last Fall, some contextually placed Disney ads appeared in a webcam video of ‘Andrea’ fondling her breasts. Now, a series of banner ads are appearing on celebu-porn site Egotastic next to Keeley Hazell covering her breasts, images from a Kristen Davis ’sex tape,’ images from a Lindsay Lohan sex tape, Denise Richards displaying her crotch and more. Screenshots are here. No nudity per se but possibly NSFW. More than likely the ads appeared on Egotastic as a result of a blind buy with neither the agency nor Disney having knowledge. It’s yet another reason why blind buys are rarely a good thing for most brands, especially one so very conscious of its family-friendly image.”