Okay, that was a mean opening, and one this altogether harmless ad for Disney’s Dream Portraits campaign series doesn’t really deserve. (I just really didn’t like that Barneys collab.) Photographed by Annie Leibovitz (who really excels at these kinds of highly-produced, fantastical shoots and has previously photographed Rachel Weisz and Beyonce for this same series) and starring pop star Taylor Swift (seemingly a deity to every girl who’s too old for Barbie, too young for Lady Gaga) in an epic interpretation of Rapunzel. I bet this campaign will do exactly what it’s supposed to do: sell the Disney brand and promote the Disney Parks experience to children and their parents.
But some coverage of this campaign has not been able to lay off nasty little allusions to how Swift’s highly publicized rollercoaster of a love life doesn’t measure up to “Dreams Come True” Disney princess messaging of the ad. Us Weekly even opened with it: “Swift may not have found her happy ending yet, but she’s living out her fairy-tale fantasies in another way…” If* Taylor’s prince ever does come, he better sic his dragon on anyone that tries to talk about it.
*Saying “if” not because I’m being mean, but because I’m really not comfortable using metaphors about “princes” to describe someone’s future romatic prospects. Will make exceptions in the case of anyone likely or hoping to marry a literal prince.
