The marketing machine can’t be stopped. It doesn’t matter what it’s for. We live in a world where marketing and publicity are relentless. Sometimes these things can be pleasant surprises like when a celebrity shows up to randomly surprise fans or guests. That’s the kind of feeling that Disney was going for in a marketing event for The Mandalorian and Grogu film. It backfired.
The Event
On Sunday, May 17th, 2026, the Disney Instagram account posted a video of a group of people at the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge area. They were about to go on the Smugger’s Run ride when a man in Mandalorian army appears. He removes his helmet to reveal that he’s Pedro Pascal, the Mandalorian himself. Disney captioned it, “Pedro Pascal creates the surprise of a lifetime at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at @disneyland.” The problem with that is those fans in attendance were all influencers or high profile fans with large followings themselves.
A Different Perspective
Now, to be perfectly fair, Disney didn’t promote the group of people as random fans. At the same time, they didn’t go out of their way to acknowledge it either. Let’s be transparent about this. When you see a video of a celebrity surprising people at a ride or small event, what do you imagine? Do you imagine it’s random people being treated to a surprise, or a specially tailored group of influencers and fan insiders? It’s obviously the former. And that’s what the company wants you to perceive. The idea is that anyone could’ve been there and this could’ve happened to them. If you make it known that they’re influencers then it takes away from the idea it could’ve been anyone. One seems like a fun promotional event, the other feels like a scripted, corporate push for clicks and views.
All that said, the group of people there did not know what they were in for. They were reportedly told that they were invited to experience recent additions to Smugglers Run. So, when Pascal showed up it wasn’t something they were expecting. For them, it is indeed a once in a lifetime occurrence. Unfortunately it wasn’t the kind of thing that ever could’ve happened to me or you. How do you view things? Is a lie of omission still a lie? Our personal take; we’re happy for those who got to experience it but it very much feels misleading.
