Takeover Terror

What has Club Penguin done wrong when it comes to takeovers and how are they actually decided on?

Before I begin, I want to say that I by no means am a takeover hater.  Many of the takeovers that have appeared on the island have been properties which I enjoy and even for ones I disliked, the parties for them ended up at least alright.  However, I think there should be some ground rules when it comes to takeovers.

Last year, Spike Hike stated in a comment on Club Penguin Memories that the team does takeovers because they have access to so many great properties that it would be a crime not to use them.  He also said that the parties were not done for advertising purposes.

However, there's a big problem with this statement that make me doubt its credibility: Not all Club Penguin takeovers come from "great" properties.  By this, I mean that some of the takeovers in question here haven't had time to become established and are too narrow in the audience they are trying to please.

The parties that I feel are based on "great" properties are the two Marvel parties, and the Monsters University, Star Wars, and Muppet events.  These properties can be considered great for two reasons.  First of all, they all appeal to a large audience.  While you can argue that Marvel and Star Wars are things that are enjoyed more commonly by boys - and had a less healthy male-female costume selection than other parties - I would say that, just like the other two, both genders find immense enjoyment from each of these media creations.  These four also appeal to the smallest of children and the oldest of adults.  They really do have something for everyone.

Additionally, all of the properties in the above list are franchises.  This is key because it means that these subjects have been around for years - even decades - to grow their fanbases and expand into various different platforms (online, film, TV, ect.).  This means that the product has proven time and time again that the general public loves the characters and the story.

The above rules even apply to the forthcoming August Frozen event.  While, yes, it hasn't even had a year to grow, it doesn't even really need that.  The billion dollar revenue count that it has obtained through box office receipts, the insane amount of merchandise purchases, and the amount of people - of both genders and many ages - who still constantly talk about it with such joy even eight months after its initial release prove that this takeover can appeal to hoards of people and that this property will still be insanely popular for years to come.

But, now we come to the ones that break these rules completely.  Those would be the Shake It Up-infused Ultimate Jam of 2012, the Teen Beach Movie Summer Jam of 2013, and the upcoming 2014 Music Jam.  Now, while I mean no disrespect to anyone who enjoys the subjects of these takeovers or, for that matter, the people involved in them, these takeovers do not follow the two rules that I stated above.

As popular as Shake It Up was when it was still airing new episodes and regardless of the good ratings that Teen Beach Movie debuted to last year, these properties do not have a lot of power when it comes to making lots of different people happy.  Live-action material from Disney Channel, while enjoyed by quite a few teens and both genders, still skews mostly towards kids in the 6-12 age range.  Now, yes, this is the target age group of Club Penguin, but what makes CP so special, and why I, and many others who are above the intended age range, still play is because the game pretty much ignores that thought and tries to serve older players just as much as the younger crowd (an example being the complexity of elements in games).  Unlike, say, Monsters University, these types of things, including the music and works of the stars appearing at the Music Jam this year, aren't enjoyed as much by adults and some older kids.  This means that they serve a far smaller audience than other takeovers did.

Perhaps more importantly, all three of these parties were made with elements that have not yet had time to grow.  Shake It Up, while fairly popular in the ratings, was a year and a half old when it came to the island.  While it had decent fanbase by that point, it was not universally loved and talked about like Frozen is today.  Even at the end of its run, which just barely lasted three years, it wasn't at high levels of exposure as far as the general public was concerned.

The Teen Beach Movie event was even worse when it came to this rule.  Work on the party began months before the movie even first aired on TV, which meant that there was no way of knowing that it would be the mild hit that it became.  Only a few weeks passed between the original air date and the start of the party, and, in that time, it hadn't become some gigantic, pop culture sensation like Frozen had.

Then we come to the fast approaching Music Jam.  The four artists that are coming to the island - no offense to them - are relative new comers.  Zendaya is the most well-known of the bunch, and has somewhat of a fanbase.  But, with that being said, she isn't earth-shatteringly famous and her appearance as Rocky wasn't largely celebrated in 2012, so I don't understand why she's back.

The other three I had never heard of until Club Penguin brought attention to them.  Cole Plante doesn't have a show on Disney Channel and works behind the scenes.  Sabrina Carpenter's show Girl Meets World will have only aired two episodes by the time the Music Jam begins and her music resume is quite small at the moment.  Violetta doesn't even speak English, the core language of Club Penguin, which is a new situation for the site.  Additionally, she is almost entirely unknown outside of a few Spanish-speaking countries, including in Club Penguin's home of Canada and the United States, which I believe was stated at one point to have the most Club Penguin players in the world.

On another note, which I briefly mentioned above, aside from Cole, who does remixes mostly, the other three performers at Music Jam have similar styles of music and themes in their songs (AKA: boys), which, along with the limited exposure of the four, lessens the ability to please a large audience with many tastes.  And, once again, three of them have ties to those age-targeted live-action Disney Channel shows, which once again makes it hard for everyone to be happy.

Now, while each of the "problem takeovers" had ties to Disney Channel, I want to make clear that I am not on a witch hunt against the programming on said channel.  While the live-action division of the network is more focused on a specific age group, and has shows and movies that don't last very long in the grand scheme of things, the animation side is very different.  Phineas and Ferb is a great example of this.  That particular show has been on the air for nearly seven years and has spawned a TV movie, video games, apps, a live show, theme park attractions, tons of merchandise, and has even sparked talks of a theatrical film.  In this time, it has gotten a large fanbase, which includes both genders and many ages.  This is a takeover that would be very successful, should the creators, one of whom once stated that he would not do a tie-in with Club Penguin, allow their show to be infused into the site.

But, after fleshing out each of the takeovers strengths or weaknesses, it's time to jump back to that Spike Hike comment:  "We do these takeovers because we have access to so many great properties that it would be a crime not to use them."

This statement makes sense when you look at the list of all those properties who have made Disney billions of dollars and have become highly popular around the world.  However, when you place it against those last few, it falls apart.  How could Teen Beach Movie be a "great property that would be a crime not use" if no one from the team or the general public had seen it yet?  When you think of all of the great Disney series and movies over the years, what do you think of?  Mickey Mouse, yes.  Toy Story, yes.  Pirates of the Caribbean, yes.  Shake It Up?  Probably not.

And when it comes to the, "We don't do it to advertise," part of Spike's comment, things don't click either.  I can believe that players really wanted and requested the Marvel, Monsters, Star Wars, Muppet, and Frozen takeovers.  I can even believe that some players requested a Shake It Up or maybe even a Violetta takeover, albeit on a smaller level.  However, with the movie not even airing yet, I am completely certain that no one was clamoring for a Teen Beach Movie takeover.  And, what about this year's Music Jam, which is exposing us to (relatively) brand new artists?

And how in the world are these not ads?

And now a final big point: Spike Hike implies in the comment above that the Club Penguin Team gets to decide what takeovers they want to make.  This too is a flawed explanation.

First, it's back to the most flawed takeover property - yet ironically the most loved takeover party - Teen Beach Movie.  If the team gets to choose what they want to make, why would they pick a movie that hasn't even aired yet?  This month's Music Jam and Shake It Up also have problems here; if the Club Penguin Team is picking their favorite Disney properties to use, I doubt that Violetta instantly comes to mind.

Additionally, while Club Penguin only plans parties - at the max - four months ahead, Spike Hike confirmed at the beginning of the year that there would be no Marvel Takeover this year.  How would he know that if the year hadn't even been planned out?  Did the team just decide early that they wanted to make room for another party?  Did Disney tell the team that they didn't want them to promote Marvel this year?

My guess is that Disney nudges Club Penguin to make some takeovers, but also allows them to choose certain ones that they want to do.

To close, I think Club Penguin should only make takeovers if the product is liked by both genders and all ages and if it has had time to prove that people really enjoy it.  While the controversy surrounding making them will never, ever go away, making takeovers that don't seem to be complete ads (I'm looking at you, Teen Beach Movie) will allow some to get a little more sleep at night.

As Billybob would say, Waddle On!
- Chillin43