This is a show whose fandom is primarily WAY out of your target audience…
Not true. Bronies probably still pale in number compared to the target demorgraphic. Most bronies can't see this though, because we don't interact with the little girls who play with their Applejack's (and her truck) and their carnation pink Princess Celestia's or the parents that buy those toys for them. We just see the 100 million hits on EqD.
But from the EqD polls, I don't think any one has gone over 30,000 yet (actually, 35,676, and that included a lot of trolls from 4chan.) We could take that, triple it, add another 10,000 for kicks, and still likely not come close to the millions of previous MLP fans and new, non-brony fans who love ponies.
Besides, Hasbro got bronies by, more or less, doing what they normally do. Ergo, they shouldn't change. The only difference is that Lauren Faust's approach (note: approach) to the cartoon (which is, first and foremost for Hasbro, a 22 minute commercial) taps into a sizeable portion of young males on the Web. MLP is about selling toys. They are selling toys.
At best/most, we are a supplement to what My Little Pony can bring in. In reality, we're a nice bonus.
Hasbro has been at this for a while now. I don't doubt their money making technique in the slightest. If their figures aren't where they need to be, then they'll make the changes.
I will grant you the last part though. The target probably doesn't care what the ponies look like. They could look like that "Pony Vs. Pony" ad (which I could, apparently, be playing for free right now!) off to the right, and the target would likely jump all over it, because it's close enough to their beloved Rarity and Fluttershy.
But most bronies probably wouldn't buy the toys anyway. Some would make-believe and play with their very own Twilight Sparkle and several probably do carry a Rainbow Dash with them for a nice bit of comfort and confidence. But if most are like me (most aren't like me…), then the most they'd buy are DVD's (which require very little change and I've already ordered) and perhaps a sticker or a pin to up my geek cred (because, as Ideo pointed out, I'm kinda a fail geek. My ex said I was an oddly specific geek. I have my interests, but I'm usually more comfortable around "jocks" than "geeks," because I spent more time playing football and doing extracurriculars in high school than anything else. The whole online thing is relatively new to me.)
Just had a bit to say on the matter. Again, your point isn't without merit.
Oh, and I guess people expected me to throw down with burning_phoneix again. I apologize. I saw no threat, so I decided to take a nap instead.
In all honesty, I just like making fun of Fluttershy more than I actually dislike her. The mane six have always been pretty well-written. And now secondary characters are being given second dimensions.
It probably boils down to me not liking a passive kind of cute. I also loathe the color yellow. That can't help.
Gigatoast made a good point. The times where Pinkie shines is when she's "out of character." I think the difference for me is above. Fluttershy's basic state is being shy and inactive. Rainbow Dash is a bit arrogant but not confident. The other four have their faults, but I feel that they are confident characters, at least. Rarity is obviously confident. Twilight knows she's powerful but she's just a little awkward about it. Pinkie is Pinkie and will always be Pinkie (except when she isn't, and even then, I love her.) AJ is overconfident at times, but it's never rubbed me as arrogant as much as Rainbow Dash.
…Oh, hey. Look at that text. My bad.
Give your eyes a rest.
I love a well-done humanization. See thelivingmachine02 all day long. But I hate anthro art. One strikes me as creative and the other as creepy. And both, in reality, have qualities of the others. But I guess since I see humans everyday (usually), one is far preferable to the other.
Time elapsed: 28 minutes (not including time for me to find an AJ image.)
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I love Megasweet!
