Operators' Dan Boeckner Doesn't Like the Hasbro/eOne Acquisition

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Aug 23, 2019

Yesterday, American toymaker Hasbro announced plans to buy Canadian media company Entertainment One (eOne) for $4 billion USD, in what is another step towards a future of heavily consolidated media ownership. While that might be exciting news for those in search of Peppa Pig stuffed toys, Wolf Parade/Operators' Dan Boeckner is less than thrilled.

Boeckner — whose Operators project is signed to Last Gang Records, a subsidiary of eOne — shared news of the merger on social media, pointing out the ridiculousness of Hasbro acquiring the company "for 4 billion US dollars so they can have the rights to a cartoon pig."

Being realistic about working as a musician in the year 2019, Boeckner then wrote, "I predict the benefit of this to Operators will be somewhere between zero and negative US dollars." That didn't stop him from suggesting a Peppa Pig-inspired merch design, though.
Friends and fans also suggested the Operators frontman try to make the best of merger by nailing down a deal for Power Rangers merch, an Operators-themed version of the classic Hasbro game Operation, or even a "Radiant Dawn action playset." Boeckner was admittedly "PSYCHED" at the prospect of his band transcending genre to become a "beloved story-led global family brand."
Of course, we're aware that Boeckner's tweets read sarcastic, and while the media landscape in Canada is much different compared to that below the border, it is jarring to know that only five companies currently control 90 percent of mass media in the United States.

Such is the revolting reality of the late-stage capitalist world we currently inhabit, but there's still time to make sure that Peppa Pig/Gucci/Operators longsleeves never leave the drawing board.

Operators released new album Radiant Dawn earlier this year. Boecker recently sat down with us to answer the Exclaim! Questionnaire.

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