At this point, depending on where you live, going out in public wearing a face mask is either required or highly recommended. Maybe you have procured a real mask from one place or another. Maybe you've made one. Perhaps you're just using whatever you have around as a mask, but as with any piece of clothing, eventually people are going to want to personalize it. Disney is responding to that desire and today opened preorders for cloth face masks that include adorable Disney characters from Mickey Mouse to The Mandalorian's Baby Yoda.
Disney is partnering with MedShare, who will distribute 1 million donated face masks to children and families in undeserved communities. In addition, the first $1 million in profits through Sept 30, from the sales of the masks, will be donated to MedShare.
The masks come in sets of four and are available in multiple sizes. There's a cute Star Wars pack that includes Baby Yoda and R2-D2 masks. There's a Disney character set that will turn your mouth into that of Mickey Mouse or Winnie the Pooh among others. There's even a Marvel set that will give you the mouth of the Incredible Hulk.
It's hard to not feel a little weird to see cloth face masks being sold as merchandise. At the same time, it's an accessory that a lot of people are going to need for the foreseeable future, and so it's a product that somebody is going to need to provide. If you're going to have to wear one anyway, you might as well wear one with Baby Yoda on it, right?
At the same time, Disney is a company that has taken one of the biggest hits due to the say at home orders around the country. Disney makes most of its money from movies that can't be released and from theme parks that had to close. The company needs to finds a way to bring in money, and this is as good a plan as any. It seems quite likely other major companies will follow suit before too long.
And with masks and profits being donated to a worthy cause, you can feel good about purchasing a Disney mask.
Currently, the masks are available for pre-order with a June 15 ship date expected according to the ShopDisney website. The masks come in sets of four, so you can wash them and still have one to wear. They cost $19.99 per set, and up two sets can be pre-ordered per customer.
One can certainly see a lot of these in use when places like Disneyland and Walt Disney World reopen. A recent plan for businesses reopening in Florida suggested that all theme park employees should be required to wear masks, so something like this could become part of the required uniform.
