Rachel Zegler’s comments about the upcoming live action Snow White remake could have ‘a huge impact on ticket sales,’ branding experts have warned.
The 22-year-old actress has received plenty of backlash after she admitted that she ‘hated’ the original 1937 movie and branded the storyline ‘weird,’ while referring to the Prince character as a ‘stalker.’
The big budget Disney movie is scheduled for release in March 2024 and now it has been predicted that executives will be ‘having crisis talks’ in order to do some serious damage limitation following the negative response to Rachel’s stance.
The backlash occurred after several videos of Rachel speaking negatively about the original film in various interviews last year resurfaced online, where she said of her version of the character: ‘She’s not going to be saved by the prince and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love.’
As well as being labeled a ‘fake feminist,’ some critics accused Rachel of ‘gaslighting’ and one marketing consultant has warned that Disney will ‘need to be careful with how they have portrayed Snow White.’
Speaking to DailyMail.com, branding expert Carla Speight said: ‘Whilst it’s been clear that the original Disney Princess films hold old values, Disney have fallen for the trap of going to the opposite extreme to inflict strong and loaded messaging on the viewers – believing that’s empowerment.
‘There was a time when Disney actors were media trained and were thoughtful about the impact of their words, whilst sticking to key messaging about the films, but it seems with this total rewrite of Snow White, picturing her as a “boss girl” has gone to the heads of their stars.
‘Disney will need to be careful with how they have portrayed Snow White and what they do and don’t allow their actors to say about it going forwards. They simply cannot repeat the same mistakes and allow their actors to be so vocal in their own personal opinions during promotions.
‘It can have a huge impact on ticket sales, especially with the amount of negative backlash so early in the promo trail.’
Carla continued: ‘They need to get the key messaging and strong selling point into a brief for the cast of the film and ensure they stick to it. If they don’t, it’s a disaster waiting to happen and the backlash will keep growing.
‘It’s possibly a good idea to get Rachel to clarify what she meant and highlight it was her own personal opinion, not a slight on women,’ she advised.
‘They should highlight the important message that it’s okay to be who you want to be. After all, Disney has been famously telling us that they’re the place where “dreams do come true” and have never actually defined what those dreams should be. Neither should their actors.’
PR expert Nick Ede agrees and told DailyMail.com that perhaps Rachel ‘isn’t the best person to promote the film’ – despite playing the main character.
