The point is that the consumer has the ultimate tool....choice.
The consumer has a choice but needs information to make that choice.
As currently worded in its multipage “Terms and Conditions”, even we self-described WDW experts can only speculate about Disney’s ultimate intentions. What information is Disney collecting? What does Disney intend to do with that information? The fact that we can only speculate is in and of itself evidence that Disney’s current level of disclosure is insufficient.
The history of most industries is that they intentionally hid information that was vital for the consumer to make an informed decision. Cigarettes were once advertised as "healthy", cars were "safe", and the fat in foods was "good for you". It took the Federal government's intervention after
decades of abuse and misinformation by the private sector to affect change.
The U.S. Government didn’t say the tobacco industry couldn’t sell cigarettes, the automobile industry couldn’t sell cars, or that the food industry couldn’t sell processed foods. Instead, it put in place reasonable limits and required more disclosure to consumers.
Even today, people buy cigarettes despite overwhelming evidence of their direct link to cancer but at least consumers now know.
Disney doesn’t have to stop “selling” MyMagic+; it only has to more openly disclose its intentions. The best consumer is an informed consumer and, with sufficient information, it will be we consumers who decide how each one of us feels about MyMagic+.
The problem is Disney doesn't want the consumer to know because Disney knows perfectly well it will have some adverse impact on business. Even if only one-in-twenty are guilty of being members of what several have insultingly called "the tin hat brigade", then that would potentially represent a 5% decline in WDW attendance, which would have a devastating effect on business. Consider what would happen at the Board of Directors level if Disney invested $2 Billion and business
dropped 5%.
Disney doesn't want you to know for the same reason the tobacco, automobile, and food industries didn't want you to know. Because full disclosure is bad for business.
Today's Disney leadership is so focused on the bottom line that they've forgotten about their "guests" who drive that bottom line. They've forgotten that their "guests" are people.
Disney is so focused on squeezing a few extra dollars out of each "guest" that they've forgotten how to keep their customers happy, coming back for more.
Ultimately, keeping your customers happy is how you succeed in business, not by collecting reams of data on them so you can determine how much you can raise prices by.
American and US Air claim that they will save consumers money. That's downright hilarious. Go ask any consumer or look at raw data and no one can ever find that a merger has saved the consumer anything and it nearly always leads to higher costs, less service, quality, etc. It's INFURIATING because we have no power to do a damn thing about anything. The government is bought and paid by corporations backed by a now corporatist Supreme Court. That makes the DOJ decision on this one very surprising.
