WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.260 --> 00:00:05.180 Do you remember the time a PR agency insulted bronies to such an extent that the TV network 00:00:05.180 --> 00:00:07.100 needed to issue a follow up statement? 00:00:07.100 --> 00:00:09.000 No? Well, you’re in for a story then. 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:11.220 Welcome to another tale from brony history. 00:00:11.220 --> 00:00:13.710 Let’s go back to the year 2012. 00:00:13.710 --> 00:00:17.900 Besides the end of the world, another disaster struck humanity at that time. 00:00:17.900 --> 00:00:20.060 Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot. 00:00:20.060 --> 00:00:25.400 During the usual PR media frenzy to promote the new show, this article popped up on Cartoon Brew. 00:00:25.400 --> 00:00:28.940 It’s pretty normal for public relations people to send press releases to blogs and 00:00:28.941 --> 00:00:30.060 other media outlets. 00:00:30.060 --> 00:00:32.789 However a couple things cause this one to stand out. 00:00:32.789 --> 00:00:37.300 First of all, they make a comparison between the art styles of Care Bears and My Little Pony. 00:00:37.300 --> 00:00:42.040 You don’t have to be an animation expert to understand these two shows do not look alike. 00:00:42.040 --> 00:00:46.460 My Little Pony is 2D animation done in Flash, meanwhile this Care Bears reboot is clearly 00:00:46.460 --> 00:00:48.539 everyone’s favorite: 3D GCI. 00:00:48.539 --> 00:00:53.859 Yet this PR person makes the claim that Care Bears “features the same re-imagined GC 00:00:53.860 --> 00:00:56.440 animation and spirit of friendship and caring that made shows 00:00:56.440 --> 00:00:59.120 like My Little Pony Friendship is Magic a cult hit.” 00:00:59.120 --> 00:01:01.460 But that isn’t why people were upset. 00:01:01.460 --> 00:01:04.030 “What’s the Care Bears equivalent of a Brony? 00:01:04.030 --> 00:01:05.030 Belly-Bros? 00:01:05.030 --> 00:01:06.030 Care-Dudes?” 00:01:06.030 --> 00:01:07.540 That’s right, because this show- 00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:17.920 Is almost exactly the same as this show- 00:01:23.500 --> 00:01:27.080 And surely all of the teen and adult fans watching ponies would love to 00:01:27.080 --> 00:01:29.780 watch the Care Bears reboot as well. 00:01:29.780 --> 00:01:33.600 Needless to say, this sparked a lot of discussion in the comments about the ignorance of companies 00:01:33.600 --> 00:01:35.400 representing both shows. 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:39.250 Not that any of this is the fault of the people who worked on the Care Bears show of course. 00:01:39.250 --> 00:01:43.240 No, all of the frustration was directed squarely in the direction of the television network 00:01:43.240 --> 00:01:46.909 and whatever public relations person issued this particular press release. 00:01:46.909 --> 00:01:51.030 In addition to some rather serious discussion, Belly Bros quickly became a joke within the 00:01:51.030 --> 00:01:53.500 Brony fandom, especially on 4Chan. 00:01:53.500 --> 00:01:55.200 But the story doesn’t end there. 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:59.500 Apparently there was enough outrage and attention surrounding this mishap that The Hub network 00:01:59.500 --> 00:02:01.340 felt compelled to respond. 00:02:01.340 --> 00:02:03.920 First of all, props to them for responding at all. 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:05.380 Rest in peace The Hub Network. 00:02:05.380 --> 00:02:08.849 Anyway, here’s their response which you can also find on Cartoon Brew. 00:02:08.849 --> 00:02:12.629 “...I wanted to let you know that this was an unapproved and unsanctioned pitch by our 00:02:12.629 --> 00:02:15.459 PR agency that we are completely taken aback by. 00:02:15.460 --> 00:02:19.980 Both The Hub TV Network nor American Greeting Properties had any knowledge of the pitch angle. 00:02:19.980 --> 00:02:25.180 It is not our intention to compare Care Bears to My Little Pony and/or the Brony community.” 00:02:25.189 --> 00:02:26.280 So there you have it. 00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:29.969 Some random outsourced PR firm got a little too ambitious with their marketing. 00:02:29.969 --> 00:02:34.310 A complete sense of ignorance toward an established and growing fan community required a formal 00:02:34.310 --> 00:02:37.290 pseudo-apology from the publicity manager herself. 00:02:37.290 --> 00:02:38.900 Again, props to The Hub here. 00:02:38.900 --> 00:02:42.709 Bronies have always loved The Hub and The Hub always seemed to love bronies as well. 00:02:42.709 --> 00:02:46.459 This may have been brief incident, but it led to a fandom meme which still occasionally 00:02:46.459 --> 00:02:48.750 surfaces to this day, many years later. 00:02:48.750 --> 00:02:51.799 Just whatever you do, don’t go searching for the Belly Bro fandom. 00:02:51.799 --> 00:02:54.749 The weird side of YouTube has a monopoly on that term apparently. 00:02:54.749 --> 00:02:55.749 Thanks for watching! 00:02:55.749 --> 00:02:58.040 I hope you enjoyed this quick look at a moment from Brony history. 00:02:58.040 --> 00:02:59.149 See you next time!