Looking at Netflix, one might think that their recent statement on employees who believe it is their role to oppose Netflix material is the first sign that entertainment companies are changing. But after what may have been the crescendo in the push for ideological entertainment — that being Disney’s commitment to incorporate sexual orientation material in small children’s material — it looks like companies have been stunned by the backlash. Whether that backlash is right or wrong, it appears to me that there are three signs entertainment companies are consciously decided to pull back from their prior positions regarding sociocultural issues.
Silence on Roe
The first strike against the immersion of entertainment and divisive cultural issues came after Disney had faced their counterprotest from the right. Though you wouldn’t know from most sources, other companies and their leadership were watching the situation with Disney and Florida and seeking ways to not put themselves in the same spot. For evidence of that, check out this article in Seeking Alpha where CEOs seek out help from strategists in knowing how they can avoid being in the same spot as Disney. Clearly it’s not a place you want to be.
Days later, the typical news was following the typical equation. Take Nicole Goodkind from CNN Business:
Companies have long approached reproductive rights with a head-in-the-sand dynamic, said Anthony Johndrow, CEO of Reputation Economy Advisors.Many have decided to wait to see how the Supreme Court rules on the issue before taking a public stance, with most expecting that Roe would likely remain in place. “Hope was the strategy,” Johndrow said. Now they need to weigh in as red-state employees who support the right to choose look to their companies for action.“Big corporations have spent decades advocating for women’s equality in the workplace and abortion ban laws are a direct threat to that,” he said. “Companies are going to have to deal with their own employees demanding action, and answers for donations made to politicians who support the bans.”
Netflix Makes a Stand
“We program for a diversity of audiences and tastes, and we let viewers decide what’s appropriate for them, versus having Netflix censor specific artists or voices.”
That was the change to Netflix’ corporate culture memo… the first time it had made a change in many years. But it wasn’t that change that sent shockwaves through the industry. After years of pushing as far as they could into a singular sociopolitical position, a major Hollywood platform was modifying its course. And anyone who thought the beleaguered streamer, which has lost more than 70% of its stock value in months, was willing to play with detractors… well, the following statement gave them shivers:
Netflix may not be the best place for you.
You may be wondering why Netflix would suddenly make such a hard turn. After all, Disney just went full speed ahead with their ideological push and they had a decent quarterly earnings report, right? Well, not quite. In fact, Disney’s team and the mainstream press spun it about as we as they could but investors weren’t fooled. Disney’s stock dropped the next day, though much of that could be attributed to the stock market taking more lumps. But the earnings report didn’t give the stock a jolt — plus warnings from CFO Christine McCarthy signaled that trouble could be on the way for Q3 and Q4. Both of those quarters will report on times since the backlash against Disney began, whereas the Q2 earnings report just given was essentially controversy-free.
Netflix leadership, as well as leadership from other corporations, are neither fools nor blind. If they’re making hard shifts in strategy, it may be that the buzz inside the industry indicates Disney stepped in it big time. Corporations are there to make money, and as much as some of their leadership may believe in cultural changes they want to see in the world, they’re also not about to wipe out their golden parachutes and invested nest eggs over it.
Clearly the culture war and its impact on entertainment is now even close to over. It likely never will be over as companies attempt to navigate a world that has diverging interests and values. But perhaps we’ve seen a movement away from hardline full-commitments to ideology within entertainment for a while. It wouldn’t be ideal for companies to take hard positions for either the left, the right or any other potential future ideology as it divides society even further. And so if this is the beginning of an industry-wide moderation, that sounds wonderful to me.
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