Disney’s Adult Marketing Strategy Is Working
Nielsen has fallen way behind in publishing its streaming ratings, which tends to happen during the holidays.
Still, the most recent charts reveal a fascinating behavior unfolding across Disney’s streaming media empire.
Photographer: Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
Here’s proof that Disney’s adult marketing strategy is working.
What Even Is Disney Content Now?
Walt Disney Company
At some point, Disney stopped gatekeeping its content library.
Historically, executives agonized over decisions involving which content best represented Disney versus which content wasn’t family-friendly.
Photo: Disney
Disney wasn’t above burying content it owned that didn’t fit the brand.
You may wonder why Disney even made such entertainment, and the simple explanation is that it didn’t.
Families Streaming Disney+
Instead, Disney acquired programming in mergers and acquisition deals and carefully evaluated which titles weren’t appropriate.
The stuff that wasn’t appropriate wound up locked in the Disney Vault, presumably never to be seen again.
Photo: IGN.com
Then, the streaming era arrived, and Disney changed its core philosophy on the subject.
Nowadays, something must be problematic like Song of the South for Disney to bury it.
Photo: Fox
We learned this in the aftermath of the Fox acquisition. Countless Fox titles never would have fit the Disney brand of old.
Well, the Disney brand of the 2020s is “Please watch whatever you want, as long as you pay for our streaming service.”
Photo: Marvel
Just five years ago, the mere thought of a Disney Deadpool movie seemed impossible.
You think I’m joking, but Disney CEO Bob Iger had to carefully tap dance around this subject during the acquisition phase.
Photo: Marvel
Iger stated that Disney was “carefully branding [R-rated films]…so we’re not in any way confusing the consumer.”
Fast forward to today, and that thought seems laughable. There’s no “careful branding” occurring on Disney+.
Photo: English Jargon
Anyone who subscribes to Hulu has access to that content on Disney+, and much of it comes from Fox…and it is NOT family-friendly.
For example, recently added titles on Hulu/Disney+ include Heat, The Town, Gone Girl, and Insidious.
Image Credit: Disney
That’s three VERY good, rather violent films and the inexplicably popular Insidious.
None of them are the least bit Disney, but here we are.
The New Disney Is Multifaceted
Photo: Disney
Obviously, there’s a great deal of nuance to this discussion. Classic Disney properties remain firewalled from the rest.
Disney has explicitly stated it will never license its animated films, Star Wars, Pixar, or Marvel stories.
The unusual decision is that there’s no mechanism separating them from other Hulu/Disney+ content like…Nightbitch.
I’m not going to lie to you, folks. As the absolute opposite of a prude, I still never thought we’d see a day when Disney released…Nightbitch.
Photo: Newsweek
I mean, maybe if they changed the title the way Amazon did with Blink Twice, whose original name is NOT safe for work. Don’t look it up, folks.
Anyway, Disney+ as a streaming service now works as the real Disney Vault.
Photo: Marvel
This is the bank of all great content. And yes, much of it is R-rated.
Disney’s new attitude is that if people want to watch that ridiculous Insidious trash, so be it.
Photo: IMDB
The gates are open once and for all. And the end result of this philosophical change is that Deadpool & Wolverine exists.
Not coincidentally, Deadpool & Wolverine is also wildly popular, having crossed the $1.3 billion mark in box office.
Photo: Washington Post
On streaming, the movie earned 484 million streaming minutes for the week, making it one of the most popular titles on any service.
However, that’s far from the only adult brand carrying the new 2020s Disney.
IMDB
Here are a few other Disney+/Hulu streaming hits on the Nielsen charts:
- Bob’s Burgers – 944 million viewer minutes
- Family Guy – 795 million viewer minutes
- American Dad – 636 million viewer minutes
Disney quietly cornered the market on adult animation while nobody was looking.
That’s how you know the company’s adult marketing strategy is working.
Photo:cnet.com
Fans of this content keep paying for Hulu and Disney+ content so that they can rewatch decidedly non-Disney content.
Disney’s Other Streaming Hits
Photo: Disney
What I find fascinating about Disney’s multi-layered approach is how effective it is.
To wit, here are a few more conventional Disney streaming hits:
- Grey’s Anatomy – 918 million viewer minutes
- Lost – 731 million viewer minutes
- Gossip Girl — 583 million viewer minutes
- NCIS – 575 million viewer minutes
Image Credit: ABC
All these titles came from the conventional network content creation system.
They aired on ABC, The CW, and CBS, respectively. Disney either owns or licenses these titles for usage on its streaming service.
Credit: ABC
Then, we have the more classical Disney approach: animated storytelling.
For the week of November 25th through December 1st, aka Thanksgiving Week, Bluey managed another 1,083 million viewer minutes.
Photo: Bluey.tv
While I’m awaiting the final word, it appears to have been THE most popular streaming program of 2024.
Disney licenses Bluey but doesn’t own it (yet). Still, this is Disney’s bread-and-butter, a children’s cartoon delighting children.
Photo: Bluey
Similarly, Moana raised its streaming numbers to 695 million viewer minutes during Thanksgiving Week.
And you should be thinking, “Of course it did!” because that’s when Moana 2 debuted in theaters.
Photo: Disney
Fans have watched Moana on streaming more than one billion times, an incomprehensible amount.
So, Disney hasn’t forgotten about its core audience of consumers seeking family-friendly entertainment.
Photo: The New York Post
Instead, Disney has uncovered a strategy that allows for the simultaneous marketing of all generations.
Ultimately, that’s been Bob Iger’s goal all along with Disney+, which was his idea in the first place.
Christmas on Disney+
So, that’s the whole story about Disney’s adult marketing strategy.
However, since this is technically a streaming ratings article, I should mention Disney’s other hits this week.
Photo: IMDb
The company’s streaming services had more movies charting than we’d seen for a while…and you may notice a pattern. They are:
- Elf – 735 million viewer minutes
- Home Alone – 553 million viewer minutes
- National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – 384 million viewer minutes
Photo: Sky News
Yes, while our calendar says 2025, Nielsen just now entered the holiday season with its streaming charts.
You should expect to see plenty more of these titles when Nielsen updates its charts, which may happen twice this week.
IMDB
To a larger point, there’s nothing Disney about Elf or Christmas Vacation, either.
These are other examples of Disney effectively targeting adults with content it licenses for streaming. Both are Warner Bros. films.
Photo: Disney
Disney wants you to stay on Disney+ and Hulu all the time. So, it snags the streaming rights for all the things you love to keep you happy.
Two years ago at this time, Disney’s streaming strategy boiled down to ALL THE BLUEY!!!
The Walt Disney Company
Today, the company has implemented a staggeringly successful, cross-generational strategy. Frankly, it’s a joy to watch unfold.
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