Recently, Disney announced that it would be expanding its offerings for consumers by introducing an ad-supported subscription in addition to its option without ads, beginning in the U.S. in late 2022, with plans to expand internationally in 2023.

With the majority of content currently available within Disney+ in the US being aimed at children and family, with the addition of ads into Disney+, there will be some legal issues to deal with.  For example, no junk food advertising can be shown between 5 am and 9 pm in the UK.

This week, Disney’s Senior Executive Vice President and CFO, Christine McCarthy, took part in a question and answer session at Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, where she was asked about how Disney was going to leverage advertising in Disney+.

Yes, that’s a great question. Disney Channel, we did not have ads on it. We had some interstitials and things, some promotional things, but it wasn’t ads per se. We’re going to be very careful about making sure the — any advertising is consistent with the content; what people are watching. So, it’s not going to be something that’s going to be jarring an off topic or off brand. We’ll also — it’ll be a lighter ad load and we’re also going to make sure that everything complies with Child Protection policies and any kind of COPPA regulations, U.S. as well as international privacy laws. So, we’re going to be very, very mindful of this. And it will be a different ad-supported platform than a lot of others out there just because the nature of the service we’re providing is a family-oriented one.

Advertising within Disney+ is going to cause some issues. It could be one reason why Disney is ramping up its general entertainment lineup in the United States, to offer more content, which isn’t aimed at children.

Internationally, Disney+ has thousands of shows and movies from its brands like ABC, FX and 20th Century Studios, which don’t appeal directly to children.  Which no doubt make advertising much easier to find than for Disney+.

While junk food advertising might cause more legal issues to deal with, that still leads many other types of services and products available to advertising, such as toys, films, cars, holidays and much more.

Disney will ultimately have complete control over what ads are shown on Disney+, so gambling and other products will likely not be approved on the service.

It’s also important to note, that the ad-supported tier that is coming to Disney+, will be in addition to the current ad-free tier.  So ultimately, it’s going to be your choice if you want to see ads or not within Disney+.

What do you think of Disney+ adding commercials?

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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