Disney is keeping its streaming service squeaky clean amid its recent flap over Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law.
The Mouse House, which is launching an advertising-supported tier, won’t take commercials promoting alcohol or political points of view, Variety reported.
Disney+, which is home to “The Mandalorian,” “Encanto” and hours of family-friendly programming, will unveil its new offering at the company’s “upfront” presentation in New York on Tuesday evening.
Currently, Disney+ costs $7.99 a month without ads. But the service is “being careful,” Variety said, citing anonymous media buyers with knowledge of recent talks between the company and advertising agencies,
In addition to not taking alcohol or political ads, Disney+ is planning to air just four minutes of advertising per hour, which is shorter than most of its rivals and significantly smaller than traditional TV, the company told The Wall Street Journal
Variety added that the media giant will also not accept ads from rival outlets or entertainment studios. The move is meant to prevent rivals from luring subsscibers away.
The Burbank, Calif.-based media giant said it will also be cautious about running ads with shows aimed at pre-school audiences. In addition, it will refrain from running commercials when an individual user profile in control of the viewing experience indicates a young child is watching.
While Disney is known to be a family-friendly company, the move comes as the media giant is embroiled in a culture war of sorts with Florida lawmakers led by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Florida lawmakers recently repealed Disney’s special tax privileges district that houses the Orlando-based theme park. The district owes $1 billion in municipal debt, which is now ensnared in a legal mess over how bondholders will be paid back under the new arrangement.
The bill repealing the tax treatment came amid controversy over Disney’s response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which was signed into law last month. It bans the discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation for kids in kindergarten through third grade.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek initially chose to stay mum on the bill, but after pressure from Disney employees and critics, the CEO flip-flopped and came out against the legislation. He vowed to fight against it and withdrew Disney’s political donations in Florida, but his mishandling of the issue has not only caused some critics to question his future at the company, but it has also reignited conservatives’ push against Disney’s “woke” idealology.
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
