Aug. 4, 2016
The AARC has gone on record opposing Disney’s relationship with a media company that’s currently working with tobacco giant Philip Morris to market its products to children. Disney is a major stakeholder in VICE Media, a youth-focused company that operates in 30 countries around the world.
In a letter that went out to Walt Disney Company CEO Robert Iger on Wednesday, AARC President Frank Salvatore wrote, “It is highly irresponsible for VICE to use its expertise in youth marketing to help one of the world’s largest tobacco companies sell more of its deadly products. Disney should not be associated with companies that act in a socially irresponsible manner and contribute to the global tobacco epidemic, which kills six million people each year.”
Salvatore goes on to urge Disney to direct VICE Media to end its relationship with Philip Morris. “The fact that Disney is associated with a company that assists big tobacco . . . goes against everything we have come to know the Disney Corporation stands for.”
Disney’s major ownership of VICE Media came to light in media reports earlier this year.
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