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2014 Hour of Code: Do Ends Justify Disney Product Placement Means?

Posted by samzenpus on from the let-it-go dept.

theodp writes "The purpose of product placement/product integration/branded entertainment," explains Disney in a job posting, "is to give a brand exposure outside of their traditional media buy." So, one imagines the folks in Disney Marketing must be thrilled that Disney Frozen princesses Anna and Elsa will be featured in the 'signature tutorial' for CSEdWeek's 2014 Hour of Code, which aims to introduce CS to 100 million schoolkids — including a sizable captive audience — in the weeks before Christmas. "Thanks to Disney Interactive," announced Code.org CEO Hadi Partovi, "Code.org's signature tutorial for the 2014 Hour of Code features Disney Infinity versions of Disney's 'Frozen' heroines Anna and Elsa!." Partovi adds, "The girl-power theme of the tutorial is a continuation of our efforts to expand diversity in computer science and broaden female participation in the field, starting with younger students." In the tutorial, reports the LA Times, "students will learn to write code to help Anna and Elsa draw snowflakes and snowmen, and perform magical 'ice craft.' Disney is also donating $100,000 to support Code.org's efforts to bring computer science education to after-school programs nationwide."

24 of 125 comments (clear)

  1. If the goal is to interest girls in coding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This should accomplish it for a substantial portion of the female population...

    1. Re:If the goal is to interest girls in coding by russotto · · Score: 2

      If that was sexist, then CSEdWeek is sexist too -- because it appears that interesting young women in coding by providing a tie in to Disney heroines is exactly their goal.

    2. Re:If the goal is to interest girls in coding by wiredlogic · · Score: 4, Funny

      Not if the Disney princesses have all graduated from the Barbie school of management.

      --
      I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
    3. Re:If the goal is to interest girls in coding by serviscope_minor · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No the book had one minor error. The title was mistakenly printed as:

      "I can be a computer engineer"

      when it was meant to be:

      "I can be an MBA"

      Once that fix is made everything makes perfect sense: come up with a high level "idea", find some sucker to do it for you, leave a trail of desctuction and then take all credit for the success.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    4. Re:If the goal is to interest girls in coding by jeffmeden · · Score: 2

      Yes, because getting boys interested in computer programming has been a major problem...

      Oh, and encouraging girls must necessarily also mean discouraging boys.

      Do you hear yourself?

      This discussion is especially hilarious because pro-male gender bias (marketing of early home computers strictly to boys starting in the early 80s) predated IT/CS being male-dominated, and all these guys are showing up just to say "hey you get your damn dirty discriminating paws off of the perfectly egalitarian IT/CS system!". If it weren't for biased sales and marketing there likely would be a very narrow gap between men and women in CS. More importantly, lots of very talented women would be able to displace some of the god awful men who find themselves in CS.

  2. SlashDice... by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh yeah, gripe about product placement all over SlashDice.com...

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
  3. Of course not! by pushing-robot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's reprehensible that they leverage this incredibly popular brand to teach girls to code when they could be using it to sell Happy Meals and next year's landfill fodder. Shame, shame!

    --
    How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
    1. Re: Of course not! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      My sentiments exactly. These characters are already incredibly popular. In another situation, someone may be paying Disney to use them to keep the attention of young people, instead Disney's shelling out $100k for it. Especially since once the kids are capable or interested in programming they don't need to include anybody or anything into their code they don't want to, who or how does this hurt?

    2. Re:Of course not! by swillden · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's reprehensible that they leverage this incredibly popular brand to teach girls to code when they could be using it to sell Happy Meals and next year's landfill fodder. Shame, shame!

      You're missing the point: Disney is exploiting the incredible popularity of Hour of Code among young girls in order to boost their poorly-performing movie.

      That might be shameful if it weren't so completely ludicrous.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
  4. Marketspeak by taustin · · Score: 3

    "The purpose of product placement/product integration/branded entertainment," explains Disney in a job posting, "is to give a brand exposure outside of their traditional media buy."

    Let me translate that in to normal English:

    "The purpose of product placement ads is to shove advertising down people's throats until they choke to death on it so we can rifle through the corpse's pockets for loose change." Or, more realistically, "Our normal advertising is so annoying and offensive (because all advertising is, these days) that we have to find other ways to force it on to people because if advertising doesn't actually work, we'll all lose our jobs had have to actually work for a living."

    Fuck Disney.

  5. Re:Holy Crap DO NOT WANT by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm doing accounting and I've got a similar question but it's about how much their markup is.

    But my calculator just keeps saying "E".

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  6. Elsa, Elsa! by Krishnoid · · Score: 3, Funny

    students will learn to write code to help Anna and Elsa draw snowflakes and snowmen, and perform magical 'ice craft.'

    Do you want to draw a snowman?
    No-not with paper and pen,
    Take this keyboard and type in these words,
    like all these nerds,
    and you will see that then ...

    SYNTAX ERROR

    Or how about some 'ice craft'.
    We can make things appear on this screen...

    Hmm, I guess that's cool.

    Elsa: I have colored pencils, paper, and some stencils.
    Anna: That sounds like a much better way to draw a snowman, let's do that instead. And, I have some cloth, sticks, and lights to make us actual, physical wands to play with!
    Elsa: That's awesome!

    Anna: I'm so glad I have you as a sister.
    Elsa: You're the best.

    The End.

  7. Disney and LEGO are very different by tepples · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Disney sues people for putting a picture of Mickey Mouse on the wall of a day care. LEGO, on the other hand, puts out a movie decrying certain media companies' fanwork ban policy.

    1. Re:Disney and LEGO are very different by tepples · · Score: 2

      people could legitimately argue "you let that profit making company knowingly use your trademark for 0 dollars, so charging us more would be illegal"

      I'd be interested in reading a citation supporting your theory that granting a nonexclusive license for qualifying noncommercial uses will weaken a trademark.

  8. This was a good choice by Otome · · Score: 2

    Elsa is the perfect programming role model

    • - She's creative enough to architect an ice palace on-the-fly.
    • - She spends most of her life alone in her room.
    • - She never has to worry about CPU overheats.
    • - She's already great at creating AI (Olaf, Marshmallow).
    • - She's rich enough to afford Bay Area rent.
  9. Sexist? by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Have you ever talked to a little girl? Saying that having to Frozen characters involved might interest more little girls is not sexism, it's the most common of sense.

    People like you say you want more women in coding but don't want to do anything real to make it happen, at the level it needs to happen - early education.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Sexist? by jelizondo · · Score: 2

      I don't even look at little girls, much less talk to them...Once they are 18+, then we'll see.

      Sexism aside; I'm the father of two girls, both of which had computers and other paraphernalia around them since they were born to a geeky father, whose live revolves around coding... And none of them is even remotely interested in computers beyond email, FB or whatever they use now.

      One, graduated in business administration with a specialty in hotel and restaurant management; the other is studying Forensic Science (Criminalistics/Criminology).

      The first can walk into a room filled with 30 strangers and in 30 minutes have 30 new friends; the latter, has about two friends, because she's geeky, but NOT interested in computers.

      As a geek, what is this bullshit that one has to be interested in computers and particularly in coding? There is engineering, math and yes, criminalistics.

      --
      Be very, very careful what you put into that head, because you will never, ever get it out. - Cardinal Wolsey
    2. Re:Sexist? by WinstonWolfIT · · Score: 2

      Both of my daughters type between 120 and 140wpm, where I topped out at 95. Point being, they grew up surrounded by technology, infrastructure, and encouragement. (D+ in science? I'm surprised, since Science is your best subject. Psych bullshit but I tried every subtle mind game to encourage her. She responded with an A+, and straight-A'd her way through high school and uni from then on.) Eldest is a successful banking marketer expanding into teaching yoga, youngest is doing well in uni but unsure, and I'll be damned if I didn't encourage and support any of their aspirations, and they can bloody well see day to day how I get stupidly rewarded for being tunnel visioned.

      I do recruiting screening for a high end consultancy, and not one female applicant that has crossed my path has remotely approached a passing score, even as I would in a heartbeat pass a female with simply a marginal competency in the interest of diversity -- and I'm far from the only one interested here in facilitating gender diversity. Every cultural male is represented where I work, but it's just depressing how male it is. I wasn't able to interest my daughters in tech, nor would I have tried to coerce them, and for decades of trying I have NO ANSWERS.

  10. No slippery slope by eegeerg · · Score: 2

    There is no slippery slope in product placement for youth education.

    1. Entertainment is different from education.
    2. Youth are different from adults.

    Consider industry-sponsored medical education. Western society accepts this, because speakers must acknowledge their funding sources. This allows the (highly educated) audience to evaluate based on inherent biases of the speaker and the quality of the research.

    For an educational program designed for youth, we cannot accept that acknowledgement of funding sources is sufficient. Youth have not developed the capacity to separate general principles from product placement advertisements. Product placement is not acceptable for a youth educational program.

    Hadi Partovi should be ashamed.

  11. I'm just curious... by CODiNE · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Where was the outrage over last years Plants and Zombies/ Angry Birds themed hour of code?

    Is it the branding bothering people, or that girls are being focused on this time around?

    --
    Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
    1. Re:I'm just curious... by mvdwege · · Score: 2

      There's a saying in my native language: "Higher trees catch more wind". I think the most obvious reason why this gets more attention now is the size of the organisation doing the product placement.

      --
      "I know I will be modded down for this": where's the option '-1, Asking for it'?
  12. Well by Richy_T · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "The girl-power theme of the tutorial is a continuation of our efforts to expand diversity in computer science and broaden female participation in the field, starting with younger students."

    How patronizing.

  13. The obligatory reference must be made by Lirodon · · Score: 2

    Do you wanna code a program~?

  14. Re:Holy Crap DO NOT WANT by serviscope_minor · · Score: 3, Informative

    But my calculator just keeps saying "E".

    14 seems quite low for the expected markup.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.