&gt;There can be little doubt that anyone seeing the image of Mickey Mouse (or even his silhouette), immediately thinks of Disney.<p>Image probably, but the phrase &quot;Mickey Mouse&quot; has acquired a fairly common meaning (at least in the UK and Ireland, don&#x27;t know about the rest of the world) outside of the character - roughly meaning something like simplistic, shoddy or cheap.<p>For example, this (<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.independent.ie&#x2F;regionals&#x2F;droghedaindependent&#x2F;news&#x2F;mickey-mouse-solution-slammed-30557836.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.independent.ie&#x2F;regionals&#x2F;droghedaindependent&#x2F;news...</a>) article talking about a plan as a &quot;&#x27;Mickey Mouse&#x27; solution to a much bigger traffic problem in the Dublin Road area.&quot; I suspect that few people over here would immediately think about Disney when they read this article.