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No players going to Disneyland from Super Bowl?

Thursday, January 27, 2005

Who will announce "I'm going to Disney World!" at the conclusion of Fox's broadcast of Super Bowl XXXIX? Nobody.

The USA TODAY reports After 19 years, the Magic Kingdom this year is canceling its Super Bowl promotional series in which a star of the game proclaims he's headed next for the Florida theme park.

A Disney official said Wednesday that the decision to bench the venerable "What's Next?" ads is limited to the 2005 Super Bowl, on Feb. 6. He left open the possibility of a comeback in 2006 when, as it happens, Disney's ABC network will televise the big game.

Craig Dezern, a spokesman for Walt Disney World in Orlando, said the move has "no connection at all" with the indecency uproar. He said the timing just didn't jibe with two new theme park marketing efforts now underway: the "Happiest Celebration on Earth" promoting the 50th anniversary of Disneyland, which begins on May 5, and a "Magic Your Way" plan offering more flexible prices and vacation plans for consumers.

"I wouldn't read anything into the future of the program. This is about where we need to put our focus right now," Dezern said.

The campaign kicked off in 1987 with Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms of the New York Giants. The phrase "I'm going to Disney World!" quickly "crossed over" to became part of pop culture. Disney expanded the campaign well beyond the Super Bowl, with 35 ads.