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Making Pirates Prettier

7/28/2017

7 Comments

 
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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

The words “human trafficking” likely bring to mind some unsettling images.  It’s doubtful that one of those associations is Disney; still, the world leader in family-friendly entertainment has felt the need to distance itself from such debased behavior, in a move that seems too politically correct to some.
 
Most people are familiar with “Pirates of the Caribbean,” and if you’ve visited the Magic Kingdom or Disneyland, you probably rode the namesake ride.  If not, here’s a short summary: A boxy boat, drops down a small waterfall, into the pirates’ world, then meanders through a nighttime setting in which animatronic buccaneers can be seen doing what they do best: fighting, raiding, and plundering, often to a music bed of “A Pirate’s Life for Me.”
 
While all of the featured pirate behavior is bad, Disney has finally decided to strike an especially offensive part of the attraction: the auction of women.  Just past the ride’s midpoint, one prominent pirate, “Red Beard,” stands over a line-up of nicely-dressed women at the Mercado, where a large banner reads “Auction: Take a Wench for a Bride.”  He tells one of the women to “shift” her “cargo” so buyers can get a better view of her backside, and he makes a crude comment about purchasing by the pound.
 
As a flute plays a jolly version of the theme music and nearby chickens cluck, some of the women being bartered don’t seem particularly upset about their dire predicament.  In fact, the lady atop the auction block at the time appears kind of excited to be sold.  The segment lasts for just 30 seconds, and most onlookers chuckle as the boat cruises under a bridge and into the next part of the attraction.
 
Disney has done with the Pirates ride what it’s adeptly done for decades: presented a sanitized, family-friendly version of a harsher reality, which is not necessarily a bad thing. For instance, recall some classic Disney movies:  No parents wanted their five-year-old to watch Nemo’s mother actually get eaten by a barracuda, or to see Simba’s father bruised and bloodied after being stampeded.  In fact, when you think of what real pirates actually have done to their victims and their property, the whole Pirates of the Caribbean franchise represents a very sterilized version of reality.
 
It’s not that surprising, therefore, that Disney decided to do even more clean-up of the ride and remove the women’s auction entirely.  When announcing the change in its Parks blog on June 29, the company downplayed the removal and rather focused on what it was adding to the ride: new characters and a fresh scene featuring pirates selling their stolen goods.  Despite the positive spin, social media erupted like the Black Pearl in battle, with many readers blasting the change, for instance:
 
“Please don’t do this. It would break my heart. I was already hurt when you added Disney film characters to It’s a Small World and honestly wasn’t too keen on the first update to Pirates adding Capt. Jack Sparrow (although I love Johnny Depp). Is nothing sacred?”
 
“So disappointed you will be changing the pirates ride at Disneyland. I’ve always been fond of that ride, it’s a Disneyland Icon & should stay as is.”
 
“No!!!! Please do not do this!! It’s awesome the way it is and is a classic ride!”
 
Of course, some people have difficulty dealing with change of any kind, even when it’s for the better, and such transitions are even harder to handle when they upend a long history.  The Pirates ride has shuttled Disney visitors through the same basic story for fifty years.
 
However, many other critics of the change have a broader axe to grind.  They’re tired of what they believe has become an ever-increasing onslaught of political correctness, feeling that no matter how accurate something may be, you can’t say or show anything that might cause someone to be offended, for example, other readers responded:
 
“Please don’t keep changing the theme of the ride to make it more politically correct. Some have said it’s not alright for children to think it’s ok for auctioning the women. These are important conversations to have, being a pirate is not ok! This is a way to have conversation with children.”
 
“Where does the PC police stop? The ride depicts drunkenness, theft, murder, and arson. That’s what pirates did.”
 
“Please don’t let a handful of people who can’t separate a ride from reality subtract from this iconic ride, one of the last Walt Disney worked on.”
 
Does all of this negative feedback mean that Disney’s alteration of the attraction is a big marketing mistake?  No.  One reason is that it’s hard to imagine that many people, if any, will refuse to go on the ride because it doesn’t have the auction of women scene.  In fact, the publicity the change has generated will probably stir additional interest in the ride and attendance at the attraction. 
 
A more important reason that Disney Parks are unlikely to suffer is that the motive behind the change seems pure.  Human trafficking is much more than a societal blemish from centuries gone by.  It’s a significant modern day problem that’s bigger than most of us would imagine, for instance:
 
  • Human trafficking is estimated to be a $32 billion-a-year industry in the U.S., that is on the rise in all fifty states.

  • As of 2012, there were 20.9 million victims of trafficking world-wide; 1.5 million of those victims were in the U.S.
 
  • Human trafficking has surpassed the illegal sales of arms and is expected to surpass illegal drug sales within a few years.
 
So, even as you read this blog, tens of millions of people around the world are being held against their will, forced to work in sex trade and sweatshops, among other forms of enslavement.  Given that global reality, it’s in poor taste to present human trafficking as part of an amusement ride that makes light of its very serious consequences.
 
There are those who understand the gravity of trafficking, yet they want the Pirates ride to stay the same because they believe the auction can serve as a springboard for discussion, as one of the comments above suggested.  Another person shared a similar reaction to Disney’s announcement:
 
“Yes, selling women into slavery was and is horrible. Let’s not hide it from public view. Let’s depict life as it was so that we can have a discussion about how it should be.”
 
Again, however, the ride portrays human trafficking in a humorous way, which sends the wrong message and serves as a bad starting point for any serious discussion.  Plus, how many families have finished the Pirates ride, when the parents pulled their children aside to say, “Now let’s analyze what we just saw and understand the true evils of human trafficking”?  If there are such parents, I’d love to learn from them!     
 
So, to summarize, Disney has made the right decision to remove the auction of women from its Pirates ride.  The bigger issue that remains is whether the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise on whole is both effective and ethical, but that question will have to wait for a future blog post.  In the meantime, we can credit Disney for making a sensible switch and for executing “Mindful Marketing.”

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7 Comments
Adam Schmehl
7/29/2017 08:26:41 am

This is excellent, David. Too often, "political correctness" is blamed for the removal of things that are flat out offensive, or make light of incredibly serious and sensitive issues. A huge PR and marketing function is to increase brand value by making decisions that will resonate with their public's values. So even if this is a "PR stunt," I still think the motives are relatively pure.

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David Hagenbuch link
7/30/2017 02:53:10 pm

Thank you, Adam. I think you're right: The change is an investment in brand equity for Disney.

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Jamie Bishop
9/8/2017 08:24:02 am

I am in complete agreement that removing the "selling" of women was the right move for Disney. As someone passionate about the issue of human trafficking, I found this article particularly interesting. While I wish I was surprised about "selling" women at Disney, unfortunately I am not. Even in the Camp Hill area, human trafficking rampant issue, yet rarely discussed. In response to the depiction serving as a spring-board for discussion, I would disagree. Not only does Disney's depiction trivialize the idea with humor, it also fails to happen in a context where such a discussion would succeed. I, too, believe taking children on a ride at Disney world is rarely going to fire up parents to educate their children about human trafficking. People go to Disney to have an enjoyable time, and there is nothing enjoyable about the realities of human trafficking. More likely it will give children and others the impression that objectifying women is acceptable and buying women is not a very real problem worldwide. Furthermore, as someone who has briefly been to the Red Light District in Amsterdam, human trafficking is nothing to laugh about. Frankly it is sickening. The statistics mentioned in this article speak for themselves.Pirates of the Caribbean is a popular movie series, and as someone who has watched them, they are quite entertaining. Regardless, as Dr. Hagenbuch alluded to at the end, there are plenty of issues in the movie which would not be considered “mindful.” This does not need to spill into their ride. People should be able to enjoy the fun parts of the movies without making light of the horrors, even if at its core it would be historically accurate. The fact of the matter is women would not—and perhaps more importantly do not—like being sold to the highest bidder for their “goods.” To imply otherwise not only demonstrates ignorance, but spreads it. To the people who fear change, I would ask whether or not they would really notice that specific portion of the ride had they not known ahead of time? If the answer was no, then I see no harm. If the answer was yes, I would beg the question why? Likely the answer is the exact reason getting rid of the ride was such a good idea in the first place. I could easily see how arguments could be made for “cleaning up” other aspects of the ride as well. Although these ideas doubtlessly have merit, it is important for Disney to pick their battles. I am happy to see the abolishment of “selling” women was one of the first to go. Regardless of whether or not anything should or will be changed, this was one change I deeply respect. It is time the world stops ignoring the human trafficking that happens right in our back yard.

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Ben Baddorf
9/20/2017 10:46:48 am

Unfortunately, the "anti-PC" police are wont to use a "one size fits all" way of evaluating situations like these. “People are just so sensitive these days,” they say, “nobody can take a joke anymore!” They don't seem to factor in the possibility that sometimes steps have to be taken to ensure that a sensitive topic isn't being made light of. They seem to think that just because they are not bothered by jokes about particular delicate issues, someone who may have personal experience with similar traumatic experiences should not be either. In this particular instance, since human trafficking is still such a prevalent concern, even in America (and even in our own community, central Pennsylvania, particularly Carlisle and Harrisburg, due to the easy access to highways like Route 15 and I81), Disney made the right decision to remove the portion of the ride that facetiously depicts sex slavery. Perhaps Disney only made this decision in order to avoid controversy and lost sales, but whether they did for purely selfish reasons or if they did it to avoid offending their visitors, they definitely made the correct call. By upholding societal values and making the decision that was good for their business, they accomplished a mindful decision.

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Jessica Sylviana
3/12/2018 07:08:04 pm

After reading this article, I have to agree with Disney’s decision to change one of the settings in the Pirates ride. As one of the mindful marketers, we need to acknowledge our target market and consider any factor that could possibly create controversial issues. Even though Disney has to recreate and face the unhappy customers, the company need to sacrifice some things in order to win back their main target market. Our community has become more sensitive to any event in the world. One unhappy segment of the market can cause a big protest movement because of the development of social media. Political Correctness is one of the crucial factors that every businessperson needs to consider.

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Eliana
11/4/2018 06:46:07 pm

I am not one to whole heartedly support the “politically correct” movements that seem to be more common with each passing day; however, I admire Disney’s efforts in removing the auction of women in their Pirates of the Caribbean themed ride. Some have argued that this presents a good starting point to begin discussions surrounding this topic with children. I agree that it could start some conversations, but likely will not. There are other ways to promote awareness of human tracking, and that should not be a mere 30 seconds at “the happiest place on earth”. This is a smart move ethically and for marketing purposes for Disney.

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faceforpc link
8/10/2020 02:39:16 am

thanks.

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