stealth marketing

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Oct 12, 2005

Walt Disney executives face a ticklish challenge in marketing their film version of the The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the New York Times tells us. Their strategy is "aggressively courting Christian fans who can relate to the story's biblical allegory while trying not to disaffect secular fans."

In other news, the ESPN sports-broadcasting network is trying to figure out how to promote the World Series, without offending people who don't like baseball.

No, wait. ESPN isn't worried about people who don't like baseball; if they don't enjoy the game they can just change the channel. ESPN isn't worried about serving the natural audience for its product.

Why would Disney worry that an appeal to Christians might offend other moviegoers? If you don't like the Christian theme, don't see the movie. Why would it bother you that others enjoy it?

The term phobia is tossed around freely these days, and usually it's inappropriate. But there's really no other way to explain how the fashionable literati respond to any hint of Christian influence within society.