Disney Partners With Biggest Social Media App For One-Of-A-Kind Celebration
In honor of Disney turning 100, the company is doing what all geriatric content creators do these days to stay relevant: joining TikTok! As Deadline reports, Disney and TikTok joined together recently to announce a collaboration between the two brands celebrating The Walt Disney Company’s 100th anniversary.
To commemorate Disney’s centennial birthday, the House of Mouse is teaming up with TikTok for a unique app experience.
The collaboration will allow fans to “watch videos from across Disney’s brands, create their own videos with Disney music and effects, play daily Disney trivia, and collect and trade ‘Character Cards’ to win unique profile frames.”
The new joint initiative between Disney and TikTok launches today, with more than 48 Disney accounts participating. The collaboration is planned to last four weeks and will be live in 24 regions around the world. The different brands that fall under the Disney umbrella—Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, National Geographic, ESPN, and more—will all be participating in the month-long event.
“For more than 100 years, Disney has been a leader in creative innovation and storytelling,” said Chief Brand Officer of The Walt Disney Company, Asad Ayaz, in regard to the collaboration, “we are thrilled to continue that legacy with this first-of-its-kind experience on TikTok.”
The different brands that fall under the Disney umbrella—Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, National Geographic, ESPN, and more—will all be participating in the month-long event.
Ayaz went on to tout the Disney brand’s “over 240 billion views” on TikTok, calling the platform the “go-to destination for Disney fans” who wish to “Create, engage, and connect around their favorite Disney films, shows, characters, and experiences.” Ayaz admitted to being “thrilled” with the partnership to celebrate the company’s first century of existence.
The partnership looks to be a lucrative one for Disney. The Marvel wing of Disney alone has garnered 277 billion views on TikTok, according to the announcement, with even less popular Disney brands like Encanto still earning views in the multi-billions. According to Disney, it boasts over 150 million TikTok followers across all of the various Disney-operated accounts on the platform.
Meanwhile, the TikTok side of the collaboration also expressed its satisfaction with the team-up. “The Walt Disney Company has an incredible legacy of bringing joy and excitement to a global community through its iconic films and TV series, heartwarming characters, thrilling parks, and memorable brands.” said Nicole Iacopetti, Global Head of Content for TikTok. Iacopetti went on to describe the social media app as “thrilled” to collaborate with Disney and help them celebrate their 100th Anniversary.
“For more than 100 years, Disney has been a leader in creative innovation and storytelling. We are thrilled to continue that legacy with this first-of-its-kind experience on TikTok.”
Asad Ayaz, Chief Brand Officer of The Walt Disney Company
As part of the collaboration, TikTok is curating a special Disney100 Playlist that will feature some of the most popular songs from Disney’s entire catalog, including classics from Cinderella and The Lion King as well as the upcoming film Wish and even smash Television hit High School Musical.
This temporary union between TikTok and The House That Mickey Built also means that Disney will become a TikTok Pulse Premiere publisher. The alliterative title means that advertisers will be able to deliver ads adjacent to some of the more premium sports and entertainment content from Disney on TikTok’s “For You” feed.
Given how unpopular both Disney and the Chinese-owned TikTok have become lately with certain segments of the US political landscape, we can only assume that this collaboration is bound to cause some backlash from people on the Right side of the aisle. Stay tuned.
