Already the Miley Cyrus-Vanity Fair "scandal" has been defused by certain rational arguments, such as, "We see kids younger than Cyrus appear on film wearing fewer clothes and in more sexually compromising situations, and nobody is crying foul there." But nothing helps combat the idea that Cyrus's photo shoot is a non-issue like another still photograph — this one also of a Disney brand.
A Disney underwear brand. In China. That can be described as nothing more than a pedophile pinup.
How did something much more scandalous than a photograph of Cyrus' back get plastered on a billboard? For starters, the age of consent in California might be 18, but in China, where this billboard appeared, it's a mere 14.
After reading of the Cyrus flap, I e-mailed my photo to Disney's McTeague. I was curious: How did the company square its position on the Liebowitz photo with its risqué billboard in China?
McTeague passed on commenting and forwarded the image to Gary Foster, a spokesman for Disney's consumer-products division. He called me from a business trip (to China) to disavow the ad. "It has caught us totally by surprise," Foster told me by phone from Guangzhou. He explained that Disney contracts with a host of licensees, who produce and market products for the Disney brand. Foster said that licensees are contractually bound to clear all advertising with Disney's corporate offices. "We have literally hundreds of licensees making our products. They are supposed to submit any kind of imagery to us before it is used, but it's hard to enforce that sometimes," he said.
Foster said he didn't know which ad agency prepared the ad, how old the model was, or where the photo shoot took place. But he was sure it was the work of a Disney licensee: Shanghai Zhenxin Garments Co. Ltd., which makes underwear for girls and teens. China is notorious for its intellectual-property pirates, and Disney is a frequent victim, with people illegally slapping the Disney name and logo on items all the time. Could this have been the case with the billboard, I asked Foster. "No. Unfortunately not this time," he replied. He assured me the billboard would be removed immediately.
It is legitimately difficult for a company as big as Disney to keep track of all its subcontractors. Then again, Disney has learned the hard way the importance of keeping track: Disney's response to the billboard recalls its response to exposés of labor conditions in the factories of its Chinese licensees', where subcontractors were actually breaking local wage, health, and safety laws. [Slate]
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The thing is that its not so much the amount of clothing Miley was wearing, it was more the implication in the photo that she had woken up from a one night stand. In other words, she isnt a 15 year old selling bathing suits, she is a 15 year old in a picture made to look like she is waking up naked from something, the look of it seems sexual.
for God's sake! give it a rest!.. move on!.. the picture is not THAT bad.. she wasn't even naked!.. kids dont care about miley!.. they care about hannah montana.. you all sound stupid..
Kids DO care about Miley. We're teaching them the same things that girls from my generation were taught — when I was that age the woman we looked up to as an idol and a role model was Britney Spears, and look at her now. Not only look at her, but look at so many of the young women my age who think that the best way to get what they want is by exploiting themselves and their bodies and having no self respect. Shame on Miley Cyrus for continuing this tradition of self degredation towards our young women.
Sarah and Cee,
You and the people who think like you disgust me. Miley is completely incomparable to Britney Spears. The photo of Miley DID NOT look like she had just woken up from a one night stand, it looked like something that Rembrant could have painted that should be hanging the the Museum of Modern Art. If anything, it's people like you who are disgusting for turning an innocent picture of a girl holding a blanket AND WEARING PANTS into something more. By reading into it you're telling you're children and other children out there that all nudity is pornography and that your body is not something to be proud of. Know what other societies say that to their young women? Societies that WE call third world countries, like Afghanistan, where women must be covered at all times and can have no rights.
Disney makes their entire business off of corrupting 15 year old girls, as does the rest of our country with 'school girl fetishes' and the constant desire to look younger and more barbie-like. If you actually look at that picture it was beautifully done and taken by one of the most famous photographers.
The fact that YOU imply things like a "one night stand" or that she's exploiting herself makes YOU the wrong ones, not her. Can you take a step back and see the picture as it is? An innocent girl preserving her youth and INNOCENCE, or do you have to jump on the latest young girl bashing bandwagon to make yourselves feel better?
Just out of curiosity, how would you advertise underwear for teen girls without people making it sexual?
Ohkay, first off. I agree completely with Avery. This picture is not exploiting Miley Cyrus. It's beutiful & I think that just because everybody else are being trash bags and bashing Miley Cyrus that doesn't mean you should join in on th madness! You should all be ashamed of yourselves. She is just a young girl and did not mean this pictures to be looked at in a negative point of view! GET A LIFE!
its just a picture? i don't get why people make such a fuss.
It is a beautiful picture, and good on Miley for detecting that in the first place. Because of the media Miley had to go back her instincts. Now Vanity Fair are to blame. They take the shit out of Miley and totally took things out of context. I know Miley and she was so proud that Vanity Fair wanted her in the magazine and all this media bullshit has cut her to the core. That picture was art.
this picture doesnt even look like Miley.