On Sunday, the Disney Grooming Syndicate was caught attempting to stage a faux event disguised as a surprise for a random group of fans. It’s a bit surprising, don’t you think? After all, are there really still devoted Star Wars fans out there?
You can check out the video of the whole situation below.
So, Disney seemed to want everyone to think that a bunch of unsuspecting visitors enjoying the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge ride at Disneyland experienced a “surprise of a lifetime” when Pedro Pascal, the star of The Mandalorian, made an appearance.
However, the guests were not as random as they claimed.
As noted by the Hollywood Reporter, here’s the scoop:
It didn’t take long for online detectives to figure out that the crowd consisted of Star Wars bloggers, influencers, and fan creators. This revelation sparked criticism against studios that have leaned on influencers to drum up excitement for upcoming releases. One fan site commented, “The backlash over Pedro Pascal’s Disneyland stunt highlights a pressing issue for Disney: audiences are losing trust in the company’s marketing.”
Of course, those present, as noted by the Hollywood Reporter, quickly came to Disney’s defense.
To be fair, Disney never stated that the group was made up of random tourists, and the influencers were fairly transparent by sharing their own experiences online.
True, but when you watch that video again, it doesn’t really suggest anywhere that the people Pedro “surprised” were anything other than fortunate, everyday guests.
Honestly, it seemed like the same old scenario: a group of die-hard fans desperately expressing their love for anything Disney, regardless of the context. It may not portray them as random customers, but still, they seem to embody future Disney patrons, doesn’t it?
Yes, this raises a question. Just how concerned is Disney? It’s clear they’re worried about the box office predictions for The Mandalorian and Grogu this weekend.
But there’s something more to consider…
Why, really, didn’t Disney handle this more appropriately? Why not have Pascal greet actual customers instead of staging this contrived event?
Just think of the authentic videos that could have come from that.
Now, perhaps this is what made Disney hesitant to go that route. They may have feared that real experiences would overshadow their orchestrated hype, and they’ve been known to suppress, dismiss, and disregard fan sentiment. One former fan even took the opportunity to confront Pascal in person while filming, sharing it online for all to see.
In an effort to appease critics, Disney seems to have sacrificed any goodwill associated with the Star Wars franchise. Without that goodwill, they likely feel they can’t risk reaching out to the broader audience. So, influencers were brought in to help, and they certainly didn’t mind taking on that role.
As it stands, projections for the opening box office of The Mandalorian & Grogu over the long Memorial Day weekend suggest it might only reach around $80 million. If that happens, it would mark the lowest gross in the franchise’s history—worse than Solo, which already flopped.
Just a thought.
