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It was reported earlier this week, during a Q2 earnings meeting for the Walt Disney Company, that the House of Mouse streaming service had lost roughly four million subscribers in the past few months. Although the company gave insight into India’s market, playing a significant factor in the loss, this still led consumers who are uneducated on the matter to make speculations on why Disney+ is presumably tanking.
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It’s no secret that political groups will boycott specific brands whenever they support a cause that goes against their belief. This happens on both the right and left side of the political spectrum. With “Go Woke, Go Broke” being the battle cry for a new generation of conservatives, many companies have been affected by their recent campaigns that support the LGBTQ community. But have they?
A recent RollingStones article revealed that many of these companies that have “gone woke” have not “gone broke” at all. While it’s true that some companies do not want to alienate their market by offending their consumers, most companies are doing just fine with the commitment to being more inclusive and accepting of marginalized groups. And whenever one of these companies sees a negative impact on their margins, it usually concerns other factors.
Let’s take Disney, for example. It wasn’t their “Go Woke, Go Broke” mentality that lost them four million subscribers; it was actually the popular sport of cricket. India makes up one-third of Disney+ subscribers, with over 38 million users on the streaming service back in 2021. The sport of cricket is very popular overseas, and unfortunately, many Indian subscribers jumped shipped when Disney+ Hotstar lost streaming rights to Indian Premier League cricket matches.
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There isn’t any strong evidence that “going woke” means you will go broke. Some consumers will indeed boycott a company, which could affect a box office outcome, such as Lightyear (2022) performing poorly last year, but Disney is far from broke. Also mentioned in the Q2 earnings meeting, Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products reported $7.78 billion in revenue, surpassing their projected estimate.
Wow, the numbers are in:
Disney+ lost 4M subscribers in Q2 2023 on top of the 2.4M they lost in the 1st Quarter pic.twitter.com/I4zSSrB31N
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 11, 2023
If this loss has taught Disney anything, it’s that the sport of cricket is crucial to their consumers in India. So don’t hold your breath if you expect them to stop “going woke” anytime soon.
Do you believe going woke means you will go broke? Please show us examples of that being true in the comments below.