Disney has sparked a backlash after teaming up with transgender influencer Seann Altman to show girls how to dress up as Minnie Mouse.
Altmann, who identifies as gender-specific but uses the pronouns “he/him,” donned a little red costume as he demonstrated to fans of the Mickey Mouse shows in a TikTok ad for Disney Style how they like the iconic child figure can look like.
“I look just like Minnie Mouse!” he said after layering white lace gloves, red lipstick and a bow tie. “Now I’m fashionable, bold and fun.”
Many viewers were quick to draw comparisons to his trans star Dylan Mulvaney’s disastrous collaboration with Bud Light, which sparked a boycott that wiped out the brand’s market value by more than $27 billion.
Transgender influencer Seann Altman showed how to dress up like Minnie Mouse
The social media star opted for a pair of white lace gloves to mimic the iconic child character
Altman felt the Minnie Mouse-themed dress and yellow shoes helped “seal the deal.”
After finalizing his look, Altman said he’s now “fashionable, bold and fun.”
At the Disney Style promotion, which promotes clothing and accessories from the Disney line, Altman first said he would “look at the most iconic group of friends” and delve deeper into the Mickey Mouse family.
Altman has over 700,000 followers on TikTok
He said he chose to dress up like Minnie Mouse because the character was “most like me,” adding that he even had “the perfect dress to start the look with.”
After donning the red dress, which was “just like Minnie,” the social media star paired it with a big white lace necklace “just to give it a little more flair.”
He then added a big white petticoat, white lace gloves, a belt and a watch before saying it was time to be “as brave as Minnie” and put on red lipstick.
Altman further accessorized the costume with black tights and yellow shoes, and completed the look with a large red bow — which he said was “the biggest fashion statement.”
“I literally look like Minnie Mouse,” he said with a twist. “And I’m a perfect match for Mickey and his friends.”
“The bow, dress and shoes really make the deal perfect, now I’m stylish, bold and fun just like Minnie Mouse.”
Disney’s move to step up the promotion sparked backlash online. Some questioned whether Altman was the right choice for marketing children’s costumes, while others felt the brand was giving way to create pressure.
Conservative commentator and journalist Cassandra MacDonald accused the company of “apparently not having learned anything from the bud-light fiasco.”
“(Disney) has teamed up with transgender TikTok influencer Seann Altman, a physical male who identifies as ‘gender fluid,’ to promote a girls’ clothing line,” she added.
“In the video, Altman does a tutorial on how to dress like Minnie Mouse.”
“The transgender influencer has 717,000 followers on the platform and frequently makes videos in which he dresses as a young girl, including a recent one in which he hops around with fairy wings.”
“I can’t imagine why Disney stock is plummeting,” said one critic, while another said, “Disgusting…I’m done with Disney forever.”
Another said, “You know what to do folks – boycott Disney if you haven’t already,” referring to the public boycott following Mulvaney’s bud-light partnership.
“For Disney, this means pouring oil on the path forward that they’re already on,” said one viewer, after MacDonald also pointed out that the company recently cast its first-ever transgender actor for the Star Wars series has cast.
Altman’s appearance in the promotional video drew backlash, with some viewers questioning if he was the right choice for marketing children’s costumes
Disney’s partnership comes months after Bud Light teamed up with Dylan Mulvaney to celebrate their “365 days of girlhood.”
Anheuser-Busch lost a whopping $395 million in U.S. sales and over $27 billion in market capital after they partnered with the transgender influencer in April
The transgender TikTok star shrugged off criticism of her disastrous marketing campaign
Disney Style’s marketing team is hoping that the partnership with Altman will be more successful than their peers at Bud Light earlier this year.
It was the most popular beer in America for over two decades, but in April the brand released a promotion featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, sparking a major boycott.
She received a special tin to celebrate 365 days of “being a girl” — the phrase she used to describe her transition from man to woman.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the brand’s parent company, lost a staggering $390 million in lost sales in the wake of the crisis.
The world’s largest brewer announced on Thursday that sales to US retailers fell 14 percent, adding that it was “below the industry”.
In a statement, the company attributed the declining sales to the backlash it was facing over the partnership with Mulvaney.