Paraguay Loves Mickey, the Cartoon Mouse. Disney Doesn’t.

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Americas|Paraguay Loves Mickey, the Cartoon Mouse. Just Don’t Mention the D Word.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/14/world/americas/paraguay-mickey-mouse-disney.html

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One is a colossus spanning theme parks, merchandise and movies, with 150 Academy Awards, 225,000 employees and annual revenue of nearly $90 billion.

The other is a third-generation family firm with 280 workers that packages hot sauce, soy beans, multicolored sprinkles, a herb called horsetail, six varieties of panettone and seven kinds of salt for sale in Paraguayan supermarkets.

Yet Mickey (MEE-kay) is a household name to rival Disney across the little-touristed South American nation of 6.1 million. In fact, a visitor might assume they’re partners.

There are the red uniforms worn by Mickey’s staff. There’s its family-friendly slogan: “the obligation to be good!”

Above all, there’s the cartoon mouse — also called Mickey, and indistinguishable from Mickey Mouse — whose iconic circular ears adorn the gates of the company’s factory, its trucks and a mascot in heavy demand at Paraguayan weddings.

But don’t get it twisted, said Viviana Blasco, 51, sitting in the capital, Asunción, among Mickey-branded stationery, T-shirts, and coffee cups.


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