#boycott the franchises then! do it! put your money where your mouth is!!!

[04tenno]

Lord

Weeb freaks are losing their minds like they do EVERY year because SEGA of Japan and America made pride tweets. The comments are atrocious and begging Japan to not become woke and bend to the “abnormals”. This happens every year.

My advice to anyone thrown into hysterics upon seeing a corporate social media account switch to a rainbow icon:

Cope and Seethe

[maxerikson]

I’ve Been Boycotting Disney

(and I will continue to do so)

So last week, the Walt Disney Company had officially become the new parent company of 21st Century Fox Entertainment. Not only does this mean that Marvel (a subsidy of Disney) gets back the film rights to X-Men and Fantastic Four, but the number of major American movie studios has been reduced from six to five, Disney now has majority shares of Hulu, and Disney now owns The Simpsons; which is important to me because The Simpsons is one of my top ten favorite shows, and now I have to stop watching it. Why? Because for about…five years, I think? For about five years I have been boycotting Disney, and I will continue to do so.

Mickey Mouse: Whoa, hold up, maX! Why are ya avoiding Disney, huh?

Mickey Mouse? Is that you?

Mickey Mouse: Nah, I’m actually the ghost of Walt Disney. Ya know, founder of the Walt Disney Company and Mickey’s original voice actor?

Well, I guess you could consider Walt and Mickey the same person, when you say all that and also factor in that Mickey is Disney’s mascot.

Mickey: That makes sense. So, buddy, what are ya boycotting my company for? Hasn’t Disney been makin’ great stuff over the years?

My boycott does not really have as much to do with Disney’s products as it does how those products are made.

Mickey: How they’re made? Why, Disney’s movies, shows and theme parks are made by encouraging open minds and putting value in imagination!

That is all very admirable and all, but I started this boycott because of how the company has been treating its employees. To be more specific: the employees who work at the theme parks and at the factories that make Disney merchandise.

Mickey: Really? How have they been treated?

Well, the bigger troublemaker would be the factories, where there have been some ethical issues. The majority of Disney-themed merchandise are made in factories located in Asian countries like China, and many workers in these factories are underpaid and overworked. Some are even given unsafe working conditions.

Mickey: Does the Walt Disney Company own these factories?

I’m pretty sure they do; either that or they have controlling interest in these factories due to how much of their profit is dependent on Disney merchandise. If it is the latter, it is still Disney’s responsibility to make sure the factory workers receive good treatment.

Mickey: O-OK…I can certainly see why you would not want to buy any Disney merchandise if they were made in such conditions, but that is just one part of Disney. You could continue watching our movies and TV shows and such, can’t ya?

No, Mickey, I unfortunately cannot. I wouldn’t be making much of a difference if I only boycotted Disney merchandise, because the success of the merchandise and the franchises they are based off are tied together. If a movie is successful, then merchandise based off that movie is guaranteed to sell. The same thing applies to the rest of the problems I am going to mention, so keep that in mind.

Mickey: Alright, I’ll play along with that for now; but what about the theme parks? They’re the happiest places on Earth; and they were designed to be that way for both visitors and employees!

To be honest, a lot of what I know is mostly word-of-mouth. It sounds to me like being a Disney theme park employee can be soul-draining. They have to adhere to high standards and receive little respect for their work.

Mickey: Gee, that doesn’t sound too bad….

That’s probably because you’re comparing it to what I just said about the factories. How the parks treat their employees may not be as ethically or legally questionable, but it is still important to me that all workers are treated with respect.

Mickey: Hey, now, it’s important to me too!

I know, I know…. Anyway, that was mostly word-of-mouth, but I have other issues with Disney theme parks as well. For example: I really do not like Disney’s World’s Animal Kingdom.

Mickey: Hold on a second! I thought you were a big animal lover, maX!

I am a big animal lover. That is why I dislike Animal Kingdom.

Mickey: What? But- Ohhh…. I think I get it.

The Animal Kingdom theme park, much like a zoo, is full of animals placed there as attractions and exhibits for the park’s guests. I do not believe this is morally right. At least zoos can make the excuse that their main purpose is to study the animals and keep them safe, (an excuse that I do not find acceptable, but this about Disney, not zoos) but Disney cannot say the same thing—those animals are there for entertainment purposes only.

Mickey: Yeah, as someone who is half mouse, I’m not sure how to feel about Animal Kingdom myself. Anything else, maX?

Well, I am not sure how to feel about the Disney College Program, where paid internships are granted to students around the world.

Mickey: How is that a bad thing?

When I first heard about it, I thought it sounded pretty cool, but then I read about some criticisms that I thought were pretty grounded, such as how it could be an excuse for cheap labor, since the interns get paid much less than what other employees get for doing the same exact work; also, the interns lack any union representation. Wait a minute…. Do the other theme park employees get union representation?

Mickey: *shrugs* Uhhh….

OK, I guess that’s something to think about and research on our own…. Anyway, I might have started this boycott because of how the employees have been treated, but I also find Disney’s business practices pretty questionable as well.

Mickey: Oh, boy….

The Fox Entertainment buyout is the latest example of such business practices. Disney buying Fox is a big antitrust concern. Before this buyout, there were six major movie studios in the U.S.A.; now there is only five. That may not sound like such a small number, but Disney was already a giant among the studios with a lot of influence over the industry itself.

Mickey: What kind of influence?

Well, when a movie theater airs a movie in its theaters, a percentage of the income received from ticket sales is sent to the movie studios. Disney has at times demanded larger percentages than other studios, which the theater owners have had no choice but to comply with. This is a big issue for small, independently-owned theaters. Now that Disney owns Fox, they have 39% of the market share, which makes this issue much worse.

Mickey: Well, golly, that doesn’t sound right. Stifling competition is bad for everybody! Being a successful, multi-billion dollar company ain’t no fun without the push to do better!

Hold on, isn’t their desire to be the best and most powerful company the reason they are in this mess?

Mickey: Wantin’ to be better than everyone else ain’t the same as wantin’ to compete as friendly rivals.

Well then, Mr. Disney, what do you think? You know, in general?

Mickey: Honestly…I don’t like it. This is not the company I helped create. But maX, if you have been boycotting The Walt Disney Company for five years, why are you just now telling everyone?

Because, I never intended to ask others to do the same. It was a personal boycott inspired by my personal views, and I did not feel the motivation to make waves in the water; but the Fox Buyout was the last straw for me. I am writing this to tell people to do the same as me and avoid doing anything that will make money for The Walt Disney Company. You don’t necessarily have to go that far. If you want, you could just avoid patronizing certain parts of the company, like I originally planned, but we need to let them know that their actions are unacceptable.

Mickey: Well, if that’s the way you feel, I won’t stop ya.

Are you saying you support my boycott?

Mickey: Now, I can’t really say that. You send your message to the fans, I’ll send my message to Disney’s executives, which is “Stop being greedy, stop being bullies, start treating your employees and subsidiaries with respect, and start being neighborly to others in your industries!”

And once you have done everything Mickey said, that is when I will stop my boycott.

Mickey: How long do ya think it will take them to shape up?

Honestly, we’ll be lucky if it only takes a decade.

Mickey: What?!

    "Beware of Mickey: Disney's Sweatshop in South China". Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations. February 10, 2007. Archived from the original on February 10, 2007.

"Disney factory faces probe into sweatshop suicide claims", by Gethin Chamberlain, The Guardian. Published Saturday, August 27, 2011.

"Disney internships draw students, criticism". Associated Press. July 5, 2005. Copyright 2013.

"Disney's Fox Deals Threatens to Create Superpowered Mouse" by Jason Bailey. The Village Voice. December 18, 2017.

"Disney's movie dominance has a dark side for small towns, independent theatre warns" by Andrew Kurjata. CBC News. December 19, 2017.