Who Thought Disney’s Galactic Starcruiser Ad About Arresting Chewbacca Was A Good Idea?

This appears to be a case of a misguided marketing piece cut in a way that’s quite a choice.

Inherent to the fabric of the Star Wars galaxy is the presence of notorious dark side baddies and regimes that the fandom has always embraced to varying degrees. Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, Stormtroopers, and the Sith represent iconic camps of characters that factions of Star Wars enthusiasts have aligned with over the years — and can now join aboard the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser at Walt Disney World.

No shame in choosing to participate in all options of sides you can take when living the Star Wars dream, but this truly unhinged advertisement really raised eyebrows by encouraging prospective guests to arrest a legendary hero.

https://twitter.com/a/status/1501637739552415749

At least that’s sort of what appears to going on in a spot that highlights the Karen-ing of calling the Stormtroopers on Chewbacca. Now, there’s no real outrage here, but it definitely comes off different when you see it in play versus when you see folks walking around in full-on Empire and First Order regalia. The finger point really makes it take a turn, to seemingly appeal to anyone who might want to save some lawyer fees by using it to pretend-storm a space cruise. That or just anyone out there besides Kylo Ren who sure has it out for wookiees.

Going by various vlogs and reactions from people who’ve visited the experience itself, even if you choose to join the bad guys there is some sort of comeuppance within the plot. The finger point in question could even be a misdirect. The social copy does say “Strike unlikely alliances,” after all. And if I went to Galactic Starcruiser with my nephew, who spent his first trip to Galaxy’s Edge following Stormtroopers around, I’d probably have to chaperone two days’ worth of getting in deep undercover with the First Order — which I think is also a playable aspect of that storyline aboard the Halcyon. This ad simply makes such a weird choice to not use kids, who think the baddies look cool — and instead giving us a pair of awfully smug-looking adult fans. Poor Chewie!