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Perhaps I'm too cynical, but I just don't believe Disney is in this purely for the health of children. It's a marketing promotion, just like any other.

Obvioulsy it's a marketing promotion, however, if Disney were purely doing it for the marketing then they would be getting A LOT more exposure on the side of a Happy Meal box that a nutritional drink; so it's obvious they are at least putting the marketing in places that are healthier and also less effective in an attempt to do the right thing.

I applaud the effort, combined with the no smoking campagn I think it's good that Disney is making the attempt to lead the way. Just so long as it doesn't go too far and suddenly you can't buy a coke in the park.

"Should the Walt Disney Company be commended for trying to associate "Enchanted" 's release with healthier food choices & physical activity? Or is this just an empty gesture by a well-meaning executive that will have little or no real impact on the movie-going public?"

I think that they should be commended for trying to raise awareness of healthy living, but, at the same time, I don't think that it will have much of an impact on the movie-going public.  Only certain demographics will benefit from the children's gym, and I've never heard of the healthy soda before.  But, good for Disney to want kids and their families to lead healthier lives.

As a father of two elementary - aged kids, I am happy with anything that keeps the kids away from wanting the Happy Meal (because no matter how hard I try, they don't want the apples instead of fries).

Iger can only get good PR for the company out of this, and it once again puts Disney in a leadership position when it comes to an important issues regarding children.

Even if this campaign does not generate extra numbers at the box office, I certainly applaud Iger's initiative to separate children from unhealthy products.  I'll spare other readers my opinions on the state of America's food industry, but I'd like to think that this is a step in the right direction; I would love to see other companies follow suit. Wonderful!

PS. Jim, you may want to review your spell-check, as I noticed a few type-o's in the course of the text. ["suger", "oportional", etc]

"Or is this just an empty gesture by a well-meaning executive that will have little or no real impact on the movie-going public?"

But good for him for trying.

I think they're just going out of their way to NOT market it as a kids' movie.

I think this is great--as StrongStyle said, they could get a lot more exposure with Happy Meals and other unhealthy options.  Shrek got a lot of negative PR for doing PSA's to promote exercise AND commercials for M&Ms, and they would be smart to avoid that. I hope if they do a Kellogs tie-in (like they've done for POTC in the past), they'll avoid the Pop Tarts and very sugary cereals.

Over the years, I've noticed a lot of healthier snack options at the theme parks. It used to be that if you wanted fruit, you could have an apple, a banana, or an orange. Now there are all kinds of other choices.

It is commendable of Disney to try to encourage better eating habits and exercise, but it wont promote the movie very well.  I have never heard of the healthy soda and the kids gym thing.  Disney would be better off doing a promotion with baked chips and yogurt or something.  They should team up with Subway and promote their movies there.  Even Wendys has lots of healthy choices for kids.  Disney needs to be smarter to get more exposure for their movies.  The only promotion I have seen for the Meet the Robinsons DVD is at Great Clips.  Is that the best Disney could do?

I think it's a smart business choice in the long run that improves the company's reputation. I'm not sure it's as money-saving a venture as reducing emissions, but there is a monetary value to safe and healthy products in the long run.

And really, part of licensing really amounts to another form of movie advertising through commercials and store shelves. You could argue the PSAs with Disney footage, often featuring upcoming and current DVD titles, are as well. They build good will and get exposure. Besides, a McD's promo in of itself won't promote a property. Sure didn't help WITCH, you know?

As a father of two, I think Disney's move away from Happy meals and junk food is great.  My wife and I did appreciate the all the fruit and veg snacks available inside the Disneyland park this year.  Big difference from our first family trip to Disneyland 3 years ago.  That being said...

Is it just me or is there something of a double standard for Disney to use healthy food products and exercise based businesses to promote sitting in a movie theater for 90mins to 2 hours pounding popcorn, goobers and soda?  

I agree with modt of what's already been said above. I think it's commendable that Disney is promoting healthy eating habits but that's not gonna sell this movie. What will sell this movie is a great story. If it has a great story the movie should do well.

"Mind you, the Mouse House recognizes that not every would-be "Enchanted" fan is a health enthusiast. Which is why they asked Disney Interactive Studios to cook up an "Enchanted" video game."

I think it's a bit stereotypical to insinuate that gamers as a whole are not "health enthusiasts". Plenty of us see the sun on a regular basis and know how to eat right as well.

Anyways, I do applaud this move on Disney's part.  Not only is a good thing to do for the sake of children's health, but marketing wise it's a pretty smart move considering how health conscious the US is getting these days.

Here, here Tolkoto. I take my DS on my regular bike rides so I have something to do at the half-way point.

WDWTITAN24 said:

Perhaps I'm too cynical, but I just don't believe Disney is in this purely for the health of children. It's a marketing promotion, just like any other.

Yeah, I agree. I think Disney is doing this to look clean, but merely trying to make the consumers think, "Oh wow, Disney cares!". In reality, their campaign won't really change the state of unfit children any time soon. I love Disney but they shouldn't be necessarily commended as if they're doing this as a selfless act as a company. On top of that though, I guess it doesn't hurt to promote better health to the families watching the movie.

Great. I can't wait to see the "health" effect this movie will have on kids. After all, who doesn't want to eat a juicy, glowing apple offered to you by a witch?

Wow. I'm totally shocked at all the responses here.

Guess I'm the only one who find being preached to via my entertainment choices incredibly annoying.

I'll parent my own kids, thank you very much. I need not one iota of assistance from Disney in terms of keeping my kids active and healthy.

Personally, I find Iger's insistence on inserting all this garbage into Disney's prodcuts at real turn off. The fact that it's near impossible to get a damn cheeseburger in Disney World anymore is ridiculous.

Oh and for the record my kids are both thin, healthy, and active. And yes ... my DD eats the apples at McDonald's.

As it turns out, there are over 50 locations in WDW where one can get a cheeseburger. But I can see how it might be difficult to find one of them....

Interesting side note - Ardea Beverages that makes the Vitamin Water wannabe is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pepsi Americas - a conglomerate forming the second largest Pepsi Bottling system in the world. Pepsi loves to make little inroads with Disney Co. any time it can. Last time I remember was when the bidding went out for drink supplier of ESPNZones. So I expect a big TV campaign from them featuring Enchanted.    Little Gym will probably be more focused on a print campaign - coupons in flyers, newspaper ads - all showing that free ticket offer that magically counts during the movie's gross - how positively convenient.

If Disney Co wanted to market this movie to kids, then we'd see it on the Happy Meal boxes. Disney Co has no moral ban on McDonald's fries in their parks, full restaurants outside their parks, and Ronald cavorting on the advertisement-free Disney channel. Enchanted seems to be shooting for tweeners up to mid-20's gals - not the Happy Meal crowd. This is the crowd that thinks colored water is cool and trendy, plus the young moms taking their little ones to their own special gym - ahhh how cute, daycare that's good for them. This movie doesn't require rocket science - slather on the ads during Grey's Anatomy = marketing complete.

Some would say they would've liked to have seen this much effort for Ratatouille, but I won't pile on. And speaking of eating in the park, stay far away from the Blue Bayou. Far, far away.  

As a kid, I always found it fun to collect all the toys for Disney's new movie at a McDonalds or Burger King. This seems kind of...boring.

Well, this isn't really too surprising. Back in '06 Disney dropped McDonald's kids meal toy promotions (never saw any Ratatouille figures, *did* you? Shrek 3, yes, but not the Rat movie). The LA Times said it was Disney's concern over child obesity. http://cbs2chicago.com/local/local_story_128172459.html

Even McDonald's itself is taking up the (almost fashionable) obesity-awareness thing. Some of the PotC 2 kids meal boxes were hilarious, blatantly encouraging young kids who wanted to be "real pirates" to get up and "swab the deck" as often as they could. Ronald MacDonald isn't a lovable clown, he's a drill instructor. Ah well, I guess that's what it's going to take?

I would agree with what StrongStyle said though:

"Obvioulsy it's a marketing promotion, however, if Disney were purely doing it for the marketing then they would be getting A LOT more exposure on the side of a Happy Meal box that a nutritional drink..."

This is a good move, regardless of the motive. It may not be the best financial move, it may not be the best marketing move, but it is brilliant for just being 'the right thing to do'.

I'm glad somebody's trying to change the status quo in the right direction.

As Americans continue to be amongst the fattest people on earth, this, at least, doesn't openly contribute to it.

I wouldn't be too worried about video games after what I saw at Wired's Next Fest. Dance Dance Revolution is just the beginning. In a matter of years, you won't have to sit on your bottom to play Street Fighter or Pokemon- you can actually get up and fight or wander around in search of Pokemon.

Well, look what's happening in the UK:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7056777.stm

"Tesco and Disney are joining forces to launch a range of co-branded food products featuring some of the US giant's popular cartoon characters.

...

Both firms stressed that none of the products will have any artificial flavours, colours or added trans fats."