You are now entering Ad Space, a realm of commercials, brought before us so we might examine how they work, and discuss why we both love and hate them so. So it is written …
The Product:
Disney movies
The Promotions:
The Pitch:
Buy these films now … while you still have the chance! Bwa ha ha!
…
Wait, was that not supposed to be an evil laugh moment?
There’s an interesting history behind “The Disney Vault”.
Back in the Long, Long Ago, when theatrical screenings were the only way anyone could see movies, the Walt Disney Company hit on a clever business model. They took beloved children’s films like Snow White and Dumbo, and re-released them in theaters every seven to ten years, just long enough for a whole new crop of children to come up who had never seen these flicks before, but had heard from their parents or older siblings how wonderful they were.
Thus Disney films became not just one-shot moneymakers, but perennial sources of income (or decennial, I guess, if we’re being persnickety). And these re-releases not only ensured that generation after generation grew up with the same childhood classics, but allowed some films to reach new and unexpected audiences. Fantasia and Alice in Wonderland were both flops when initially released, but in the 1970’s gained new popularity among teens and twenty-somethings. Turns out, their bizarro imagery paired well with psychedelic compounds.
But then came the 80’s, and the rise of home video. And the thinking at Disney HQ was that, re-releasing these films for a short while once every decade or so had been a winning strategy in theaters, why not apply it to their home video releases, too?
Ostensibly, the rationale was that limiting the availability of their films would keep them from being oversaturated, and make each re-release a special event. But the folks who made these ads clearly knew the real power of this business strategy: FOMO.
Few things make a person want something more than telling them they can’t have it, and that goes triple for young children. You might have people thinking, “Sure, it’d be nice to own a copy of Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty, but there’s other things I could spend that money on, too.” But tell them this could be their last chance to buy a copy before it’s locked away, out of their reach, for God knows how long? That’ll get ’em going.
And creating the image of an actual, physical Disney Vault barring you from childhood classics: that was the truly diabolical touch.
A few years ago, it looked like the concept of the Disney Vault might finally have been retired, with Disney+ making Disney’s movies available to stream, all-day/every-day. That was until Disney and a bunch of other streaming services began taking shows and movies off their websites to save on expenses.
Who knows, a decade from now we may see a return of ads like these, telling us we’ll once again be able to watch the Willow TV series … but not for long!