Disney executives saw $$$ in the potential expansion of Miley Cyrus's tween audience to include gay men, and let the fan-made Fire Island "Party in the USA" video take off on YouTube rather than pull it over copyright issues, the NYT reports:
"'I assumed it would be taken down pretty much immediately, particularly because of the music rights issue,' said David Fudge, a 27-year-old marketing executive at Esquire who made the video, titled 'Party in the Fire Island Pines.'
But Disney left the ditty alone and it soon exploded in an underground way, collecting 200,000 views in just three days. Disney employees started e-mailing it to each other, and before long Mr. Fudge's office telephone rang. On the other end: Rich Ross, the president of Disney Channels Worldwide. 'I was like, who?' Mr. Fudge said. 'He just said that he loved it and wanted to tell us that. He was extremely nice.'
Mr. Ross declined to comment, but another Disney executive noted that the video (and the reaction to it) demonstrated how Ms. Cyrus was broadening her fan base beyond little girls."
