Social Media raises concern about Disney trademark... (5/6)

When Lalo Alcaraz learned this week that Disney was seeking to trademark "Dia de los Muertos," the name of the traditional "Day of the Dead" celebrated by millions in Mexico and the U.S., the cartoonist had an idea.
The trademark was for an animated movie by Disney and Pixar Animation Studios Inc. that is inspired by the holiday.
The Los Angeles-based humorist created a movie poster that quickly went viral of a skeletal Godzilla-sized Mickey Mouse, with the words: "It's coming to trademark your cultura (culture)."
Anger and ridicule expressed on social media largely by Latinos began circulating. On Tuesday, Disney said it was no longer seeking a "Dia de los Muertos" trademark request because the film's name will change before its release.
"Disney's trademark filing was intended to protect any potential title for our film and related activities," a company statement said. "It has since been determined that the title of the film will change."
Disney has not said that social media responses were responsible for the withdrawn trademark request. The company did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press.
Whatever the reason, the episode showed how quickly reactions to even the smallest corporate move can spread online and lead to calls for boycotts.
"It was not social media that started this. It was Disney that started this," said Tom Garrity, head of the Garrity Group, a public relations firm that advises companies on social media practices. "Social media only highlight the deficiencies in Disney's planning and what people saw as cultural insensitivity."
The Disney request momentarily replaced immigration as the hottest topic among Latinos on Twitter, said Elianne Ramos, vice chair of LATISM, a nonprofit group Latino social media group. She noticed the trend by monitoring posts on Twitter and had planned a live tweet town hall until the trademark request was withdrawn.
"Some people saw it as an attempt to own our culture and profit from it," she said.

Website: http://movies.yahoo.com/news/social-media-raises-concern-disney-trademark-180332476.html