It seems that anything with the Disney name is an instant success. However, this week they may have just made their biggest mistake. The new Epcot Disney exhibit, Habitat Heroes, which tackles childhood obesity, has made many critics furious, forcing the exhibit to shut down. Blue Cross and Blue Shield partnered with Disney to create Habitat Heroes. The exhibit is designed to take visitors through sets of interactive experiences that fight bad habits.
The exhibit is being accused of stigmatizing overweight kids as it features animated fitness heroes such as “Will Power” and “Callie Stenics” as your guides through interactive rooms where they fight habits like too much television and junk food. The heroes face off against the villains “Super-sized Snacker” and “Lead Bottom.”
Blue Cross and Blue Shield intended on the exhibit encouraging healthy habits among children so that they would improve their health and thus, lower health-care costs.
The problem the critics had was that Disney attached the worst habits to an overweight kid’s body. (more…)
