Disney has sparked backlash after teaming up with transgender influencer Seann Altman to show girls how to dress up as Minnie Mouse.
Altmann, who identifies as gender fluid but uses he/him pronouns, donned a little red costume as he demonstrated to fans of the Mickey Mouse show how to look like the iconic child character, in a TikTok promotion for Disney Style.
“I look just like Minnie Mouse!” he said after donning white lace gloves, red lipstick and a bow. “Now I’m fashionable, daring and fun.”
Many viewers were quick to draw comparisons to fellow trans star Dylan Mulvaney’s disastrous partnership with Bud Light, which led to a boycott that wiped out more than $27 billion from the brand’s market value.
Transgender influencer Seann Altman showed how to dress up as Minnie Mouse
The social media star opted for a pair of white lace gloves to help him emulate the iconic child character
Altman felt the Minnie Mouse-themed dress and yellow shoes helped seal the deal
After completing his look, Altman said he was now “fashionable, bold and fun.”
The promotion for Disney Style, which advertises clothing and accessories from the Disney range, saw Altman start by saying he would “look at the most iconic group of friends” and delve into the Mickey Mouse family.
Altman has more than 700,000 followers on TikTok
He said he chose to dress up as Minnie Mouse because the character was “most like me,” adding that he even had “the perfect dress to start the look.”
After donning the red dress that was “just like Minnie,” the social media star paired it with a big white lace necklace “to give it a little more flair.”
He then added a large white petticoat, white lace gloves, a belt and a watch, before saying it was time to be “as sassy as Minnie” and apply red lipstick.
Altman went on to build the costume with black tights and yellow shoes, completing the look with a big red bow — which he said was “the biggest fashion statement.”
“I literally look like Minnie Mouse,” he said with a twist. “And I was a perfect fit for Mickey and his friends.
“The bow, the dress and the shoes really sealed the deal, now I’m fashionable, bold and fun, just like Minnie Mouse.”
Disney’s move to push through with the promotion sparked online backlash, with some questioning whether Altman was the right choice to market children’s costumes, while others felt the brand was bowing to the pressure.
Conservative commentator and journalist Cassandra MacDonald accused the company of “obviously not learning anything from the Bud Light fiasco.”
“(Disney) has partnered with transgender TikTok influencer Seann Altman, a biological male who identifies as ‘gender fluid,’ to promote a clothing line for girls,” she added.
In the video, Altman gives a tutorial on dressing like Minnie Mouse.
“The transgender influencer has 717,000 followers on the platform and regularly makes videos of him dressed as a young girl, including a recent one of him hopping around in fairy wings.”
“I can’t imagine why Disney stock is crashing,” said one critic, while another said, “Disgusting… I’m done with Disney forever.”
Another said, “You know what to do people – boycott Disney if you haven’t already,” referring to the public boycott following Mulvaney’s Bud Light partnership.
“For Disney, this is pouring oil on themselves on the slide they’re already riding,” said one viewer, after MacDonald also noted how the company recently cast its first-ever transgender actor to join the Star Wars franchise.
Altman’s appearance on the promo video was met with backlash, with some viewers questioning whether he was the right choice to market children’s costumes.
Disney’s collaboration comes months after Bud Light teamed up with Dylan Mulvaney to celebrate her ‘365 days of girlhood’
Anheuser-Busch lost a whopping $395 million in US sales and more than $27 billion in market capital after partnering with the transgender influencer in April
The transgender TikTok star shrugged at criticism of her disastrous marketing campaign
The Disney Style marketing team hopes their partnership with Altman is more successful than their Bud Light counterparts earlier this year.
It was the most popular beer in America for more than two decades, but in April the brand released a promotion featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, sparking a massive boycott.
She was gifted a special can to celebrate 365 days of being a girl – the phrase she used to describe her transition from male to female.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the parent company of the brand, lost a whopping $390 million in US sales in the aftermath of the crisis.
The world’s largest brewer said on Thursday that sales to US retailers were down 14 percent, adding that it was “underperforming the industry.”
In a statement, the company attributes declining sales to the backlash they faced because of the partnership with Mulvaney.