In today's OC Register, on the back of the "News" section,
there is a full page color add for Disney.

The reason it's odd is because all it is is a picture of Mickey
with the phrase "The world's leading family entertainment brand."
With "Disney" at the bottom.

What are they up to you wonder?

The same ad is in USA Today. Probably just trying to counter some of the negative publicity of recent weeks, without directly acknowledging it.

Selling the *brand* -- that is what is so interesting. they don't say Family Entertainment, they say Family Entertainment Brand.

Maybe they should say "synergistically relevant family entertainment brand"-lol.:cool:

I just read a CBS Marketwatch update, and the new ads are part of the WDC's offensive strategy to counter Roy and Stan.

Well - the factors for the ad (which also appeared in the LA Times and most likely the WSJ) would most likely be:
1) continued pressure from Save Disney effort and the information they have provided
2) the Pixar deal undoing
3) the shareholder meeting coming up
4) trying to go back and use a "conservative disinformation" campaign to deflect the investor from the issues and look at the legacy of the entire company.

If you think about it - it's even worse now in that Eisner is claiming he has kept the family brand in tact. When in fact Disney as a company has ventured so far into non-family based endeavors it's rather ironic. Rides that only accommodate a subset of the family, a whole movie line that focuses on PG13 and R films, TV shows like "AM I HOT", etc. But - as with companies like Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, GE, and now Viacom - the louder you shout over the din you assume that all other informaiton will be shut out.

Lots of other popular Disney fan sites have been carrying news of major concerns in Burbank. So - the pressure looks like it's working - but it has to increase as we get closer to the shareholder meeting. Those of you who know brokers or major financials should be giving out hints...

I just read this over at SaveDisney, seems the 'brand' issue has caught their eyes, too.

'Brand' awareness:
http://www.savedisney.com/news/essays/rd020904.1.asp

Starting to make a lot more sense. Big ad...followed by takeover bid.

Some news reports say it was a "surprise" move, but they also mention that Eisner spoke with Comcast's CEO earlier.