About
Mission Statement
"Every four years, they count your vote. They count your money every day."
"Every four years, they count your vote. They count your money every day."
We are a grassroots, web-based community dedicated to chronicling and resisting corporate attacks on democracy, worker's and human rights, fair trade, business ethics and the environment. Our shared goal of a more informed and conscious consumer is being accomplished via this website: a vast database of easily searchable corporate and political info designed to aid responsible citizens, progressive thinkers and activists.
We are not affiliated with any political party, candidate, or PAC in any way. Our primary objective is to provide an independent, objective source of information to our readers about some of the most crucial, contested topics of our time.
Short Term Goal
The most immediate goal of Knowmore.org is to provide detailed information and ratings for a broad enough base of companies and products that our 'search' feature can be readily used by consumers everywhere. Once this goal has been realized, first-time users will be able to enter the name of the products, companies, services and brands they buy into our search bar and immediately Know More. In this way, Knowmore.org can be a major force in changing how people use their purchase power.
History
B. Dolan (left) and Sage Francis (right), co-founders of Knowmore.org
B. Dolan (left) and Sage Francis (right), co-founders of Knowmore.org
Knowmore.org was conceived in 2004, by poet/activist B. Dolan. While investigating the links between his own consumption habits and social justice, Dolan realized the need for a resource such as Knowmore; a clearinghouse where consumers could easily access "Responsibility Profiles" of the companies and practices they support with their dollars.
Bernard took the idea to his friend and fellow poet Sage Francis in early 2005, who agreed to throw his support behind the project, bankrolling the site's early construction and bringing his considerable grassroots resources to Knowmore.org.
2005
In 2005, Data entry began with a small, dedicated group of volunteers. Shortly thereafter,the original Knowmore.org website was built and launched. At the time of it's launch, the site contained about 10 company entries.
At the end of 2005, Sage Francis, along with B. Dolan, Sole, and the Solillaquists of Sound embarked on the Knowmore.org Tour, a national hip-hop tour to raise awareness of the site. The tour was a huge success, attracting thousands of new readers and donors to the site.
By years end, Knowmore had covered around a hundred companies in detail, and was receiving millions of hits each month.
2005's Knowmore.org Tour
2005's Knowmore.org Tour
2006
2006 saw Knowmore's first confrontation with a company; leading to a year's worth of research surrounding American Apparel. "Understanding American Apparel," published on the Knowmore website in August 2006, attracted considerable attention and praise for Knowmore's objective and thorough reporting.
2007
Data entry continued in 2007, leading to company profiles for around 200 corporations. A massive overhaul of the Knowmore interface was also undertaken by developer Danny Brown and our designer, Irena Andreic.
In late 2007, Knowmore.org was re-launched, with the current design and interface. Our "Behind the Logos" and "Uncommercial TV" features were also launched at this time.
2008
Data entry continues, with the goal of covering the entire Fortune 500 by years end!
Quotes that have inspired us
"In addition to developing an organization to orchestrate state-level laws, we also believe we need a national clearinghouse and institute for scholars and activists who wish to study corporate power and develop innovative solutions to controlling corporations. Such a clearinghouse could also support the movement-building process, develop new organizing strategies and model legislation, and continuously develop new ways to connect local struggles with national policy questions."
- Report of The Citizen Works Corporate Reform Commission, The People's Business: Controlling Corporations and Restoring Democracy
"My own feeling is that the right approach is to build on the strengths: to recognize what's healthy and solid about having not hundreds, but thousands of flowers blooming all over the placepeople with parallel concerns, maybe differently focused, but at the core … similiar values and a similiar interest in empowerment, in learning, in helping people understand how to defend themselves against external power and take control of their own lives, in reaching out your hand to people who need it. All the things that you people have talked aboutthat's a common array of concerns. And the fact that there's a tremendous diversity can be a real advantage—it can be a real way of learning, of learning about yourself, and what you care about, and what you want to do, and so on. But of course, if it's going to bring about real change, that broad array of concerns is going to require some form of integration and inter-communication and collaboration among its various sub-parts…
…in the end, there really are only small changes that can be made within the existing institutions—because they've got their own commitments, which are basically to private power. In the case of the media, they have a commitment to indoctrination in the interests of power, and that imposes pretty strict limits on what they can do.
So the answer is, we've got to create alternatives, and the alternatives have got to integrate these lots and lots of different interests and concerns into a movement—or maybe not one necessarily, which somebody could then cut the head off of, but a series of interconnected ones: lots of associations of people with similiar concerns, who've got in mind the other people next door who have related concerns, and who can get together with them to work for changes. Maybe then we can ultimately construct serious alternative media… serious in scale, at the point where they can consistently present people with a different picture of the world, a picture different than the one you get from an indoctrination system based on private control over resources."
-Noam Chomsky, Understanding Power
Issues
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Here you will find links to pages that address our broad categories of concern in an issue-based format. If you wish to debate or amend one of these issues, feel free to use the 'discussion' page attached to each article. Also, be sure to check back for regular updates and features.
[edit] Worker's Rights Abuses
The Kuk Dong factory in central Mexico was the scene of a major battle for independent trade unionism in 2001.
The Kuk Dong factory in central Mexico was the scene of a major battle for independent trade unionism in 2001.
Millions of workers around the world still exist under inhumane working conditions. In the new global economy, corporations from developed countries are more frequently moving their production to developing countries, where they can take advantage of cheap labor and sweatshop conditions. Workers endure extremely long hours in labor intensive jobs with low wages and often unsanitary, unsafe conditions. In many countries there is little or no labor law enforcement, and many workers are prevented from joining unions to advance their own interests. Also, trade agreements exist in many countries which deregulate labor practices and allow corporations to dictate how they treat their employees based on profit as opposed to human rights standards.
Even more alarming, an estimated 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are working around the world. Unable to go to school, these children face little hope of escaping poverty in their future. Advocating for Worker's Rights is essential to ensuring worker's protection, strengthening worker's voice, and ending abuses that violate people's rights and dignity. KnowMore.Org believes that without standards for workers everywhere, the security and freedom of workers anywhere is at risk.
Also highlighted in this section will be issues of due & equal rights/compensation for all employees, adequate and equal health care, job safety, and the ability of Worker's to form unions or labor organizations if they should so desire.
[edit] Human Rights Abuse
"Human rights abuses, once committed primarily by repressive governments, are increasingly carried out in the corporate interest." -Corpwatch.org
While there is a bit of overlap between Worker's and Human Rights issues (after all, Workers Rights Issues are Human Rights Issues), this category is meant to represent those Human Rights Issues which do not fall under the Worker's Rights umbrella.
Human rights are specifically addressing people affected by the company, while Workers Rights are specifically adressing people who work for the company.
For example, companies continuing to do business in Burma are supporting a Human Rights crisis; as are companies that traffic in African "Blood Diamonds". From Nestle's Marketing practices leading to infant death in the third world to Bayer's involvement with the holocaust, Human Rights have often fallen victim to the will of mega-corporations.
* U.S. Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan: Knowmore special report provides a listing of companies with contracts in Iraq & Afghanistan, and provides links to articles about war profiteering in the "War on Terror"
* Crisis Profiteering: Reaping Katrina's Rewards: Knowmore special report collects articles regarding use of private security contractors in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath.
[edit] Environmental Concerns
Corporations are perhaps best known for their negative impact on the environment. Whether through the form of air and water pollution, or through razing rain forests for new materials - corporations are threatening our planet's very ability to survive.
* Greenwashing: Greenwashing is defined in the 10th edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary as "disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image". There is a growing trend among corporations to take advantage of consumers who seek products with a neutral or positive environmental impact.
[edit] Political Influence
In April 2002, BP/Amoco CEO Lord John Browne announced that BP was voluntarily ending all contributions to political candidates around the world. "We must be particularly careful about the political processnot because it is unimportantquite the reverse—but because the legitimacy of that process is crucial both for society and for us as a company working in that society," Browne announced. "That's why we've decided, as a global policy, that from now on we will make no political contributions from corporate funds anywhere in the world."
Is it possible to ban corporate money from politics? The United States already has. The 1907 Tillman Act, still on the books, says that it is "unlawful for any national bank, or any corporation…to make a contribution or expenditure in connection" with a federal election. Unfortunately, the act was full of loopholes, and corporations have found many ways around the Tillman Act over the years, including now-illegal soft money contributions to federal candidates, Political Action Committees (or PACS), and the bundling of individual donations from multiple employees and executives.
KnowMore.org feels that if citizens are ever to truly reclaim their Democracy, corporate money & influence must be totally removed from politics.
* Opinion: Saving Our Democracy from a Corporate Takeover: "The corporate stranglehold on the electoral process means that corporate voices are drowning out citizen voices and explains why legislation coming out of Washington often reads like it was ripped straight out of a playbook written by the Business Roundtable. It also means that any serious attempt to regulate corporations and curb corporate abuses is up against incredible odds, since politicians generally don't like to upset their biggest donors…"
[edit] Business Ethics
Business ethics refers to corrupt business practices - ranging from price-fixing, insider trading, bribery, false advertising, excessive compensation to CEOs, to willfully creating dangerous or defective products. Business Ethics also includes the ways company handle human resources (Worker Rights), endanger the lives of people and their communities (Human Rights), source their materials in ways that harm the environment (Environmental Impact), and pay lobby groups in order to get corporate-friendly laws passed (Political Influence).
FAQ
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Contents
[hide]
* 1 Who operates / owns Knowmore.org?
* 2 Where does the content on the site come from?
* 3 Ok, but if anyone can edit Knowmore at any time, how can I be sure the information presented here is correct?
* 4 Can anyone rate companies too? Where do the ratings come from?
* 5 How can I contact the project?
* 6 Is Knowmore.org's information copyrighted?
* 7 Site X seems to be violating Knowmore's copyright. Do you guys know about this?
Who operates / owns Knowmore.org?
Knowmore is owned and maintained by Knowmore, Inc., a 501 (c)3 not-for-profit organization, formed with the purpose of creating this website as an educational tool.
The mission statement of Knowmore.org is the same as the mission statement of Knowmore, Inc.
Beyond that, Knowmore.org is the brainchild of two poets; Bernard Dolan and Sage Francis. Neither is affiliated with any political party, nor is Knowmore, Inc. or Knowmore.org. It is the intention of this site to critically examine all possible aspects of every corporation and political issue we cover. Hence, Knowmore does not advocate for or against any party or politician, nor should it be expected to "side" with any company or group of companies against any other.
While the site and its rating system might seem to endorse or partner with certain companies, this relationship is extremely tenous and will never include a "blank check" to avoid criticism or careful inspection. If anything, these types of relationships open a company to closer scrutiny.
In addition to Knowmore, Inc.'s directors, board members and volunteers, developer Danny Brown and Graphic Designer Irena Mihalinec work to maintain it.
Knowmore's goal is to create a free, reliable corporate database; indeed, the largest of its kind in the world, in terms of both breadth, depth and independence. This is an ambitious goal, and will probably take years to achieve!
Knowmore.Org also takes the form of an easily searchable database that can used by consumers to enter the name of any brand or company in order to immediately find out more about that companies practices & history. This is done with aim of aiding & promoting responsible consumerism.
Where does the content on the site come from?
Our users! Knowmore.org is a continuously evolving, collaborative endeavor thanks to it's WIKI technology. Thousands of people have currently contributed to different parts of this project, and anyone can do so, including you. All you need is to know how to edit a page, and have some knowledge you want to share.
If you see a spelling error, a clearly biased opinion being presented as fact, an awkward sentence or an incomplete account, fix it! We encourage our readers and users to be bold in making corrections and additions, as this practice is one of the basic review mechanisms that maintains the reliability of Knowmore. You'll get the hang of it soon and there's always a self-correction system in place in case you "mess anything up".
You can learn who is responsible for the most recent versions of any given page by clicking on the "History" link.
If you are uncertain or find the wording confusing, quote the material on the associated talk page and leave a question for the next person. This helps eliminate errors, inaccuracies or misleading wording more quickly and is highly appreciated by the community. What on earth is WIKI?
A wiki is a collaborative collection of interlinked web pages, all of which can be visited and edited by anyone at any time (collaborative software).
You could even edit this page by clicking the "edit" link on the third tab above, or edit only a section by clicking on "[edit]" to its right! If you don't have anything to add or correct on this page and you just want to see how it works, try out the Sandbox. See also the Editing FAQ or On Adding a New Company.
Ok, but if anyone can edit Knowmore at any time, how can I be sure the information presented here is correct?
All editors of Knowmore are expected to aim for Objectivity and a Neutral Point of View, to accurately source their material and adhere to the Journalistic Code of Ethics.
As anyone can edit any article however, it is of course possible for biased, out of date or incorrect information to be posted. However, because there are so many other people reading the articles and monitoring contributions using the Recent Changes page, incorrect information is usually corrected quickly. Thus, the overall accuracy of the encyclopedia is improving all the time as it attracts more and more contributors. You are encouraged to help by correcting articles and passing on your own knowledge.
Can anyone rate companies too? Where do the ratings come from?
Ratings are determined by our moderators, who are made up of distinguished, trusted editors and staff. Once a company has been fully researched to the moderator's satisfaction the mod studies and weighs the information presented and arrives at a rating for each category.
The KnowMore.org Rating System is an evolving, unscientific method of quantifying corporate activity. It is not meant to be regarded as definitive or to supplant the forming of one's own opinion about a company. Rather, it is simply meant to provide a quick visual guide that loosely summarizes the information contained in the entry.
For more information on our rating system, see The Rating System in Detail
How can I contact the project?
While contacting individual users is difficult, site administrators can be reached at aim: KnowMoreOrg or via email at gro.eromwonK|dranreB#gro.eromwonK|dranreB.
Is Knowmore.org's information copyrighted?
The articles hosted on this site are released by their authors under the GNU Free Documentation License, so the articles are free content and may be reproduced freely under the same license.
Site X seems to be violating Knowmore's copyright. Do you guys know about this?
It's most likely the answer is yes, and it's reasonably likely they're within their rights. Anybody may mirror or fork Knowmore.org as long as they comply with the GNU Free Documentation License.
Involved
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"Our Dreams Will Never Fit in Their Ballot Boxes"
"Our Dreams Will Never Fit in Their Ballot Boxes"
In the coming weeks, we'll be updating this page with a number of ways you can get involved with the Knowmore.org website and Ethical Consumerism movement. These activities will be organized, top to bottom, from least-time consuming to most-time consuming.
No matter your constraints, there are several ways in which you can get involved immediately!
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Quick activities
o 1.1 Make Knowmore.org Your Homepage
o 1.2 Add a "Knowmore Search Box" To Your Webpage
o 1.3 Blog About Knowmore.org and Knowmore Links!
o 1.4 Donate to Knowmore.org!
* 2 Got Some Free Time?
o 2.1 Become an Editor!
o 2.2 Join the Street Team
* 3 Longer Commitment
o 3.1 Student Internships
Quick activities
Make Knowmore.org Your Homepage
Making Knowmore.org your homepage is a quick, free way in which everyone can help Knowmore generate the revenue we need to operate.
By doing this, we'll receive a pageview (or more) from you, everytime you open your browser window. If a critical mass of our 200,000 monthly readers do this, it will significantly increase our marketability to socially responsible sponsors, who we are currently offering ad space to.
Also, this'll allow you to stay on top of new developments with the site, and Knowmore's new DAILY NEWS section will provide you with the latest in un-corporate news, campaigns and events!
Tip for Firefox users:
If you're thinking about not doing this because you have your iGoogle personal home (other other) set up as your homepage with your gmail, feeds etc - you can start FF with multiple tabs open.
When you enter the homepage, seperate multiple urls with a | so at least your just one click from your custom homepage (or whatever) and helping knowmore.
Home Page: http://www.knowmore.org | http://www.google.com/ig
Add a "Knowmore Search Box" To Your Webpage
Just add a few lines of code to your myspace or web page, and you'll have a Knowmore banner and interactive search bar in one. The search works just like the one on Knowmore's homepage; "any product, brand or company".
Here's the code to add, just cut and paste it onto your page!
<table border="0"> <tr><td><center> <form name="searchform" action="http://knowmore.org/wiki/index.php?search=Brand%2FProduct%2FCompany&fulltext=" method="post" <a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmtub3dtb3JlLm9yZw=="><img src="http://www.knowmore.org/images/c/c6/Kmlogoblack.JPG" border="0" align="center"></a><br> <input type="text" name="search" size="30" style="text-indent : 2px; color : ..000000; font: normal 11px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; border-color : ..000000;" /><br> <input type="image" src="http://www.knowmore.org/images/search.gif" align="center" name="Search!"/> </form> </td></tr> </table>
Blog About Knowmore.org and Knowmore Links!
Knowmore Banner / Search Bar
Knowmore Banner / Search Bar
"Word of Mouth" works! If you've found Knowmore pages helpful to you in the past, or found a particular company profile that interests you, link to it from your Blog or webpage!
Everytime bloggers link, for example to Coca-Cola from your webpage, websites like Google take notice of the link. The more times something is linked from around the web, the higher it's visibility when people Google the phrase "Coca Cola."
This is why, for example, Wikipedia pages often appear on the first page of search engine results. We receive thousands of hits per month due to this kind of thing, and its a great way to disrupt a company's marketing on the web!
Donate to Knowmore.org!
Knowmore, Inc. is a registered, tax exempt 501 (c) 3 non profit organization. This means that any and all donations to Knowmore are tax deductible!
Click here to donate through Paypal.
If you'd like to send a donation in the mail, please send it to the address below:
Knowmore.org
PO BOX 23
Mapleville, RI 02839
Got Some Free Time?
Become an Editor!
Become an Editor!
Become an Editor!
This is the kind of volunteer that makes Knowmore run in the most fundamental way; our User Editors. There's more to editing than can be explained here, but it's simple to get a basic overview and idea. For an extensive help file on Editing, click here.
The first (and only) step required to become an editor is to register an account with Knowmore. Not only is it free, but it's almost totally private. The only thing we ask for is an email to verify that you're a real person and not a bot. Other than that no questions will be asked of you.
Once you've registered and verified your account, just enter your username and login to begin editing. You should immediately notice that when browsing pages, you now have additional tabs at the top of your page, and one of them reads 'Edit'. You'll also see blue [edit] tags throughout entries. Use these at any time to correct spelling mistakes or grammar, to question, remove or correct biased information, or most importantly to source information! Be bold in your edits and don't worry about 'messing anything up', other users are monitoring the recent changes page and looking over your edits the same way you're looking over their's.
Whenever you see a red link in a page, it means that the page's author wanted additional information to be given or an additional topic to be covered. These red links are one of the best ways to add depth to Knowmore. Following a red link will lead you to a blank page, and what's more exciting to a writer than that?
Join the Street Team
Like talking to people? Hate your computer? Become a member of our street team!
Pass out flyers on your campus, setup a booth at a festival, download (or upload) a stencil and put the writing on the walls.
In the future, we intend to put together a small zine or leaflet, which will be avaliable to street team members for distributing in lieu of flyers. We'll take the best of the original writing from the site and put it in people's hands.
Longer Commitment
Student Internships
Knowmore.org accepts applications for student internships, for students interested in pursuing careers in Journalism.
Please send letters of intent to gro.eromwonK|dranreB#gro.eromwonK|dranreB
Walt Disney
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Corporate Statistics
Walt Disney logo
Worker Rights Human Rights Political Influence Environmental Business Ethics
This company has areas of concern around Worker's Rights and Business Ethics.
Walt Disney
500 S. Buena Vista St. Burbank CA USA
91521-9722
818-560-1000
http://www.disney.com
Type:
Public (NYSE: DIS)
The monarch of this magic kingdom is no man but a mouse — Mickey Mouse. The Walt Disney Company is the world's #2 media conglomerate (behind Time Warner) with assets encompassing movies, music, publishing, television, and theme parks. Its TV holdings include the ABC television network and 10 broadcast stations, as well as a portfolio of cable networks including ABC Family, A&E Television Networks (37%-owned), and ESPN (80%). Walt Disney Studios produces films through such imprints as Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone, Pixar, and Miramax. In addition, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is one of the top theme park operators in the world, anchored by its popular Walt Disney World and Disneyland resorts.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Corporate Facts
o 1.1 History
* 2 Criticism
o 2.1 Worker's Rights / Fair Trade Violations
o 2.2 Business Ethics Complaints
o 2.3 Political Influence
o 2.4 Environmental Criticism
* 3 Praise
* 4 Brands & Subsidiaries
[edit] Corporate Facts
[edit] History
The Walt Disney Corporation formally began in 1923 when the "Alice's Wonderland" comedy series was contracted for release by M.J. Winkler. The company was initially run by Walt Disney and his brother Roy Disney, with each having equal ownership, under the name Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. Roy then suggested that the company just be called Walt Disney Studios, and his brother gave his consent.
The company found a permanent resting place on Hyperion Avenue in Hollywood, California. On November 18, 1928, the first ever cartoon featuring synchronized sound premiered under the title "Steamboat Willie." This release gave Walt Disney Studios world wide fame. In 1930 the merchandising of Disney blossomed, with the release of the first Mickey Mouse comic strip and book.
On July 7, 1955, Disneyland opened, and in 1971 Disney World opened its doors to visitors. In 1983 the Disney Channel, and a year later Touchstone Pictures, was established. In 1996, The Walt Disney Corporation purchased Capital Cities/ABC and received 10 television stations, 21 radio stations, and seven daily newspapers.[1]
As of 2008, the Walt Disney Corporation has 137,000 employees. Its net income in the year 2007 was 3.832 billion dollars. The corporation sells on average 274 million children's magazines, 120 million children's books, and 2.9 million Disney character t-shirts annually at Disney World. With all of its parks combined, Disney occupies 1949 acres of land in Orlando, Tokyo, Paris, Anaheim, Chiba, and Hong Kong. 100 million dollars are spent annually to maintain the integrity of the Magic Kingdom. [2]
[edit] Criticism
[edit] Worker's Rights / Fair Trade Violations
Disney has been accused of Sweatshop employment:
* In December of 2000, CBC Marketplace received reports from Human Rights activists documenting that Disney was running unethical factories in China. The factories' employees were forced to work seventeen hours a day, every day for weeks; furthermore, the corporation refused to pay the workers minimum wage, and would charge them a fine for talking or using the bathroom without attaining prior permission. Source: CBC Marketplace, Dec. 5, 2000.[3]
* Further allegations were revealed in 2007 when factory workers admitted to being fined for occupying the lavatory for more than five minutes, and stated that they were forced to live with up to fifteen other people in inhumanely small dormitories. The workers, who made Tigger, Eeyore, and Minnie Mouse toys, articulated that they are only allowed one day off per month. Source: Times Online, Dec. 23, 2007. [4]
* Sacom (Students and Scholars Against COrporate Misbehavior) researched the state of one of the sweatshops operated by Disney. Known as the Dongguan Tianyu Toys Co. Ltd., the sweatshop forces workers to work twelve to fifteen hour days, vastly exceeding China's legal limit of 8 hours maximum. During times of higher demand such as the holiday season, workers are denied days off, resulting in over 400 hours of labor per month. The average workday for on of Tianyu's employees begins at eight in the morning and ends at midnight. Source: Sacom.hk [5]
* In response to the aforementioned accusations by Sacom, Disney ended it's relationship with Dongguan Tianyu Toys. The swift and inconclusive nature of this ending left the factory unsupported and the workers unemployed. Source: Sacom.hk
* The Disney Corporation refuses to publish the names of any of its factories in China. By concealing these factories, It is more difficult for independent inspectors to conduct evaluations of the factories' working conditions. Source: Berne Declaration, Mar. 1, 2006. [6]
* In 2004, it was uncovered that the owner of a Disney supported factory in Bangladesh denies workers their pay until approximately two weeks into the following month. This goes against the laws of Bangladesh, which state that workers are to be paid no later than one week after the month in which those earnings were made. The withholding of income was the result of the owner's decision to allow the money to receive seven to eight percent interest on the funds to lower payroll costs. Source: National Labor Committee.[7]
* In Haiti, a Disney owned factory pays the workers the official minimum wage, which, although legal, is not enough money for workers to support their families. The income, which is thirty cents an hour, seems meager in comparison to the fact that a meal itself costs about two dollars and eighty nine cents, and that it only amounts to approximately half of a legitimate living wage, which is sixty cents. Source: Third World Traveler, Dec. 1998.[8]
[edit] Business Ethics Complaints
* In June of 2008, a practicing Sikh faced discrimination and was fired from his position as a performing musician at Disney World due to his inability to adapt to the "Disney Look." To accommodate this look the Sikh would have had to violate his religious practices by removing his turban and shaving his beard. The Sikh, named Sukhbir Channa, was demoted to doing menial tasks, and was eventually fired for lacking the "Disney Look." Source: The Economic Times, Jun. 15, 2008. [9]
* The Disney corporation attempted to block the release of the 2004 film "Fahrenheit 9/11" from Miramax Films. The company was eventually able to purchase the rights to the film back from Disney. Source: Lessig, May 5, 2004. [10]
* A similar event occurred when Disney blocked the release of the film Dogma due to it's irreverent approach to the practice of Catholicism. Miramax was unable to reclaim the motion picture, and it eventually was released by Lions Gate Films. Source: Fox News, May 12, 2004. [11]
* In Walt Disney World, disabled individuals are required to rent either a wheelchair or a motor scooter from the corporation to be able to visit the parks. Renting either of these modes of transportation costs thirty five dollars a day, which increases the price of their visit fifty percent, from the sixty seven dollar admission fee. The corporation has further denied the use of the Segway for people who are disabled in the parks. Seven thousand people need Segways to become mobile, as they suffer from debilitating diseases such as Parkinson's disease and multiple Sclerosis. Source: Lawyers and Settlements, Nov. 16, 2007. [12]
* In 1993 Elena and Jaime Boruchovas visited Disney World to commemorate their thirtieth wedding anniversary. While watching a parade in the Magic Kingdom, one of the floats hit a curb, and sent one of the seven dwarfs toppling onto Mrs. Boruchovas, and the lights the dwarf was covered in exploded. She was brought immediately to a hospital. On her third day in the hospital, a Disney representative named Aronfeld visited Elena and used his fluency in Spanish to convince her to sign a paper in English, which she was incapable of reading. He also provided her with one thousand, two hundred, and twenty two dollars. Mrs. Boruchovas stated afterwards that she thought she was simply signing a receipt for the money. The paper removed Disney from any liability in the event. Her leg became infected, and multiple skin grafts were required to repair the detriment. When the couple decided to sue, witnesses were told by Disney to not respond to the phone calls. Source: Associated Press, Sep. 30, 1996. [13]
[edit] Political Influence
* Disney spent $374,453 on the 2004 presidential campaign to support their candidates, $99,000 to Democrats in the House of Representatives, and $53,000 to Democrats in the Senate. To Republicans, the corporation gave $96,500 to the House of Representatives, and $49,000 to the Senate according to statistics released by the Federal Election Commission, or FEC. Source: OpenSecrets.org 2004[14]
* The 2006 campaign received $549,375 from Walt Disney Corporation according to the FEC. $122,000 of which went to Democrats in the House of Representatives, $54,000 went to Democrats in the Senate, $113,500 of which went to Republicans in the House of Representatives, and $72,000 of which went to Republicans in the Senate. Source: OpenSecrets.org 2006[15]
* So far in the 2008 election, Disney has spent a total of $461,151 according to the FEC. Democratic members of the House of Representatives received $93,500, Democratic members of the senate received $40,500, Republicans in the House received $94,000 and Republicans in the Senate received $45,500. Source: OpenSecrets.org 2008[16]
[edit] Environmental Criticism
* In 2003, there was a report stating that the export of tropical fish from the Vanuatu archipelago skyrocketed after the release of the film Finding Nemo. In the year the film was released, 200,000 animals were exported from the reefs. The people who take the fish from the restricted areas seem to lack an understanding of the time required for a reef to recover. If such activities continue, the reefs and their ecosystems could be permanently damaged. Source: Guardian, Nov. 21, 2003. [17]
[edit] Praise
* Disney films throughout their history have championed environmental responsibility. At Cambridge University, a professor of English named David Whitley articulates that the characters such as Snow White and Cinderella serve as role models for the children who watch the films, viewing their close relationship with animals to be admirable. He further gives movies such as Bambi credit for inspiring many of the 1960's environmental activists. Their most recent release Wall E is contiguous with this pattern. Among his sources, Whitley sites Eisner's founding of the Environmental Media Association. Source: Thai Indian News, Mar. 25, 2008.[18]
* In April of 2007, the Walt Disney Corporation opened its Fairy Tale Weddings to same sex couples. Source: Advertising Age, Oct. 18, 2007.[19]
[edit] Brands & Subsidiaries
ABC, ESPN, Hyperion Pictures, A&E, The Biography Channel, Jetix Europe, Lifetime Entertainment Services, SOAPnet, Pixar, Hollywood Records, Miramax Films