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Credit: Androland °o° on Unsplash2023 has been pretty rough for the Walt Disney Company, and it does not seem like things are improving for the iconic media company any time soon. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has made his conflict with Disney a central tenet of his presidential campaign, movie after movie is flopping in theaters, and The Magic Kingdom is completely sold out, but not in a positive way.
Related: Disney Genie+ Hits New Record-High Price in Florida
So it cannot be good for the Walt Disney Company that a new report by Axios indicates that more Americans than ever are losing trust and goodwill toward the House of Mouse. Although the polls in the report show Disney losing ground in literally every category for reputation, the most worrying aspect of the report is that it now ranks in the top five most politically polarized companies for Americans.
Walt Disney Company’s Reputation Is Plummeting Among C0nservatives
The only companies that respondents considered more polarizing than Disney are The Trump Company, The Fox Corporation, bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange and crypto hedge fund FTX, and arts & crafts retailer Hobby Lobby. Considering that all those companies have been in the news for enormous controversies like near-billion dollar lawsuits, that is not a list that Disney wants to be on.
Notably, while Disney’s reputation has been falling since 2017, it sharply accelerated this last year and has a huge gap in the difference between individuals who self-reported as a Democrat or Republican, with conservatives’ view on the company plunging double-digit numbers.
Credit: Disney
Related: Disney Removes Annual Pass Signage at Disney Park
Disney Remains One of the Biggest Media Companies in the World
Despite Axios poll numbers, the Walt Disney Company is still a dominant global force. Movies and television produced under the Disney brand (not to mention Lucasfilm’s Star Wars and Indiana Jones and Marvel Studios) are regularly some of the most popular forms of entertainment, while theme park attractions like Disney World, Disneyland, and the various international parks continue to have massive fan bases.
However, it will have to remain to be seen whether Disney can maintain its status indefinitely while under attack from the Florida legislature and the constant debate about its place in politics, gender identity, and LGBTQIA+ issues. At the very least, it is clear that Americans are beginning to think differently about Disney these days.