In a recent SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filing, The Walt Disney Company seemingly admitted to have alienated consumers — most likely due to their embracing of woke ideologies — and comedian Rob Schneider believes that this could put them back on the right track.
Taking to social media to express his excitement over the House of Mouse’s admission, the former Saturday Night Live alum wrote, “Disney got financially spanked by American families who don’t want their children indoctrinated by idiotic Woke lunacy.”
An optimistic Schneider then concluded, “Now they will return once again to being the great entertainment company for ALL Americans. Thank YOU, America!”
Per the SEC filings, Disney admitted, “We face risks relating to misalignment with public and consumer tastes and preferences for entertainment, travel, and consumer products, which impact demand for our entertainment offerings and products and the profitability of any of our businesses.”
According to George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, who analysed the SEC filing, Disney’s “controversial political and social agenda” is to blame for the company’s disconnect with consumers — making use of the “invisible hand” metaphor, introduced by Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith in the 1700s, to illustrate the House of Mouse’s current financial dilemma.
“Disney appears to acknowledge that Smith’s invisible hand is giving the ‘House of Mouse’ the middle finger,” wrote Turley in an opinion piece for The Hill. He added, “In a new corporate disclosure, Disney acknowledges that its controversial political and social agenda is costing the company and shareholders.”
Turley further asserted, “For shareholders, it may seem counterintuitive that corporate executives would trade off profits for political or social agendas. However, it does serve as a rationale for individual corporate executives who are professionally advanced when they champion such causes.”
“In fairness to Disney, there is an expressive element to its products. Movies are artistic creations that emphasize certain motivations and values,” Turley argued, pointing out, “At one time, those values included some that are now viewed as offensive, including racist tropes.”
He went on, “The question is the balance and degree of the political and social agenda. Disney’s products are now viewed by many conservatives as empty virtue signaling and endless attempts to indoctrinate children.”
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“Moreover, when the company publicly declares its opposition to a popular parental rights bill in Florida, it is moving away from a commercial to a political focus,” the law professor assessed.
Before reaching the conclusion of his damning analysis, Turley pointed out that Disney’s embracing of political agendas has even managed to negatively impact some of the company’s biggest, most profitable intellectual properties, declaring, “You can bring movies to the public, but you cannot make them sell.”
“Once an unassailable and uniting brand, Disney brand is now negatively associated with activism by a significant number of consumers,” he asserted. “The company is now even reporting a decline in licensing revenue from products associated with Star Wars, Frozen, Toy Story and Mickey and Friends — iconic and once-unassailable corporate images.”
“The question is how long Disney (or its shareholders) can tolerate falling revenues tied to its ‘misalignment with the public.’ It is a massive corporation and it can lose billions before facing any truly dire decisions,” Turley concluded.
While it appears to be too soon to be celebrating in the same fashion Schneider did, the former Saturday Night Live star is right in his assertion that American families have turned their backs to Disney and their incessant pushing of political propaganda-filled content.
With a production budget of $200 million, Disney’s latest animated endeavour, Wish, has only managed to gross a disappointing $32 million domestic and an even more disappointing $17 million internationally, for a worldwide box office of $49,653,154 — that is, according to data collected by The Numbers.
Similarly, Disney and Marvel Studios’ The Marvels was another box office disappointment for the House of Mouse, barely managing to gross the disappointing sum of $46,100,859 million domestically on opening weekend that was followed by an abysmal drop the next week.
Domestically speaking, Marvel’s latest outing barely managed to rake in a mediocre $10,200,000 domestically with a 78% drop from the week prior; a performance that would’ve been unheard of prior to Avengers: Endgame, a film that many consider to be the real conclusion to the MCU.
NEXT: Disney’s Magic Fades As Company Admits Being At Odds With Consumers In Recent SEC Report