Disney, a company synonymous with family-friendliness is currently facing a struggle with the gambling industry due to its indirect presence in casinos and slot machines. Having recently acquired Marvel for US$4 billion in 2009, many of the Marvel superheroes including Spiderman and Iron Man now belong to the Disney character pool. Apart from the characters, Disney has also carried along the various casino and gambling related activities that bear the faces of Marvel characters. Similarly, the acquiring of Lucasfilm for US$4 billion in 2012 has also associated Disney with the gambling industry since Star Wars characters are common faces on slot machines in casinos as well. As much as Disney has shown its disapproval for Vegas-styled integrated resorts in family-oriented Florida, its recent acquisitions of Marvel and Lucasfilm have inevitable embroiled it in a hypocritical battle.

Although being firm and unrelenting towards actions that may threaten a company’s beliefs and vision is a admirable, it becomes a challenge when external companies that were not initially ‘built and raised’ with the same expectations and values are acquired and integrated into the parent company. Companies are therefore straddled in a dilemma of acquiring another company for advancement and facing contradictions in values after acquisition.

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