Disney’s The Little Mermaid had the perfect opportunity to wrangle in a broader demographic with prime advertising during the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics playoff game, but a technical error from YouTube TV left both fandoms wanting nothing to do with the mermaid princess or desiring to be part of her world in any way.
What should have been the final minutes of the Eastern Conference Finals wound up becoming a Groundhogs Day moment for fans after YouTube TV crashed midway through the fourth quarter, forcing fans to watch an ad for The Little Mermaid on repeat to the point of seasickness. As expected, the kerfuffle did not go over well.
Once or twice is bad enough, but when the last three minutes of a playoff game are on the line and you get 18 reruns of the same commercial? That’s enough to drive anyone mad. Even an avid Ariel lover like myself would have been an inch away from delirium.
“It kept playing the little mermaid commercial over and over no matter how many times I refreshed it,” said Twitter user @highIightheaven. “I thought I was going insane.”
Rightfully so, too. Especially when you’re looking at Halle Bailey and YouTube TV is telling you it’s actually Jimmy Butler. Talk about permanent scarring.
Or maybe this was Disney’s plan all along; sneak a little note across the desk to YouTube TV, look both ways and whisper, “Hey, do us a solid, push that The Little Mermaid trailer yeah?”
It worked for some. Intentionally or not (probably not) watching Halle Bailey yearn to be part of our world for 10 minutes straight is all it takes to wrangle an unsuspecting fan off the streets. Disney: 1, Heat/Celtics: 0
Even though YouTube TV subscribers weren’t there to see it happen, the Miami Heat did eventually take the W with 123 points against the Boston Celtics’ 116. And despite hating Ariel’s guts for a solid 10 minutes, the live-action movie has likely benefited from some prime-time advertising one way or another. Any publicity is good publicity, as the old adage goes.
The Little Mermaid swims onto courts — ahem, I mean into theaters — on May 26. Be there or be square.
