Striking Actors Unhappy Over Shaq’s Disney Spot

Shaquille O’Neal’s decision to film commercials for Walt Disney Co. amusement parks after leading the Los Angeles Lakers to the NBA title Monday night isn’t playing well with fellow actors union members who are striking against the advertising industry.

Moments after the Lakers’ 116-111 victory over the Indiana Pacers, NBC’s camera showed O’Neal on the Staples Center floor, where he filmed versions of the now-familiar spot in which newly crowned sports heroes say they’re heading to Disneyland. One version of the commercial began running Tuesday morning and others were to follow Tuesday night, Disneyland spokesman Joe Aguirre said.

“We’re obviously deeply disappointed” with the taping the commercial, Greg Krizman said of O’Neal, a SAG member. “Unlike some other athletes who are not media-wise or savvy, Shaquille O’Neal has done movies and music videos. I think he’s at a much higher level of awareness of SAG and what our issues are. So the fact that he’d go ahead and do it is disappointing.”

Leonard Armato, O’Neal’s Santa Monica-based agent, said O’Neal viewed the spot more as a public service announcement than a commercial, “and the revenue that changed hands was directed to charity. Shaq remains supportive of the strike and feels an affinity with the actors. This was a one-time result of a championship won by the Lakers. That’s why it happened.”

Aguirre said the commercial “focused on Shaquille not as an actor but as an athlete at the crowning moment of achievement.” Aguirre also said O’Neal directed payment for the commercial to the Shaquille O’Neal Charitable Foundation, which benefits children.

Members of SAG and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists are staging what’s likely to become the longest strike ever by actors against the advertising industry. At issue is how actors are to be compensated for ads running on network and cable TV. The strike hasn’t shut down production of new commercials, however, and some producers are moving commercial shoots outside of Los Angeles to escape picket lines.

Aguirre declined to comment on the strike, but SAG maintained that most athletes are honoring the union’s request not to cross picket lines. Players’ unions that represent professional athletes also have advised members not to cross picket lines.

“There obviously are some exceptions to the support we’re receiving, and Shaquille O’Neal is the most noticeable and most troubling,” Krizman said. According to SAG rules, O’Neal could be asked to appear before a disciplinary review committee. “I’d say that’s likely to happen to anyone caught scabbing during the strike,” Krizman said.

O’Neal has several previous ties to Disney. In 1996, the basketball star portrayed a genie in “Kazaam,” a motion picture produced by Disney’s Touchstone Pictures division. The movie was rebroadcast Sunday on Disney’s ABC television network. O’Neal also appeared in a Disney commercial that ran during ABC’s Super Bowl XXXIV broadcast.

Disneyland has been producing the instant commercials for 13 years. More than 25 different spots have been shot, including commercials featuring home run slugger Mark McGwire and members of the U.S. women’s World Cup team.

O’Neal has appeared in commercials for such well-known companies as Taco Bell, Reebok and Pepsi-Cola. He now is appearing in ads for several high-tech companies, including FreeInternet.com, Digex and Sportsline.com.

During a recent interview, O’Neal said he chooses when to do commercials. “I don’t do things just to do them,” O’Neal said. “For example, [General Mills Inc.] has been wanting me on the Wheaties box for four years. I don’t eat Wheaties, so I can’t do that.”