MAGA's cancellation spree
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MAGA is on a cancellation spree, targeting marquee entertainment and tech companies with boycotts over comments or content the right deems inappropriate or offensive.
Why it matters: The movement is on a crusade to "take back the culture" in a country it views as jolting to the left. Its ability to impose societal penalties on companies it views as pushing that drift will show how much heft the right's campaign has.
Driving the news: Disney saw twice as many U.S. streaming cancellations in September amid the Jimmy Kimmel saga than it did, on average, for the trailing three months, according to data from entertainment analysis company Antenna.
- Roughly 3 million people canceled their Disney+ subscriptions last month compared with the roughly 1.2 million trailing three-month average.
- Roughly 4.1 million people canceled their Hulu subscriptions last month, compared with around 1.9 million on average for the three months prior.
Yes, but: Both services saw strong subscription additions in September, offsetting any boycott-related cancellations.
- Disney+ gained a net total of 2.18 million new subscribers compared with 1.81 million, on average, for the three months prior. Hulu saw 2.11 million additions, compared with the 1.87 million trailing three-month average.
Catch up quick: MAGA has expanded its target list at a rapid clip in recent months. It initially targeted Disney after Kimmel made controversial remarks about the political leanings of the alleged assassin of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
- Netflix: MAGA excoriated Netflix after prominent social media accounts highlighted LGBTQ+ characters from shows like "Cocomelon" and "Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous," accusing the network of "grooming." The push came years after the right called for people to cancel subscriptions over a French film called "Cuties," which actually denounced social media's hyper-sexualization of young girls.
- Wikipedia: MAGA erupted after Wikipedia's co-founder listed sites he claimed were "blacklisted" from being used as sources on the website, including Breitbart, Daily Caller, Epoch Times, Fox News, The Federalist and more.
- NFL: MAGA came down hard on the National Football League for naming Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl halftime show performer. Activists took issue with Bad Bunny's use of Spanish and gender-fluid wardrobe, arguing the NFL should instead tap someone who sings in English and has more traditional gender performances.
MAGA has also targeted prominent retail brands like Target, Bud Light and Cracker Barrel, some for stances on DEI or LGBTQ+ inclusion and others for simply changing longtime and beloved logos.
Zoom out: Boycotts of major media companies are traditionally short-lived, often catching fire briefly on social media before petering out.
- A high-profile Facebook ad boycott during the summer of 2020 only lasted one month and barely made a dent in Facebook's ad revenue.
- A Republican-led effort to cancel Netflix around the "Cuties" controversy burned out after just a few days.
- "How many times are we going to boycott Netflix, right? I thought that conservatives have already done this, like, six times. It just shows that it's all for likes and clicks," MAGA enforcer Laura Loomer tells Axios. "It's kind of absurd."
State of play: Still, there have been some instances where the right is able to harness outrage over a company or product and direct it into the successful creation of an alternative platform.
- The Daily Wire has built a multimillion-dollar razor business after direct-to-consumer razor company Harry's Razors pulled its ads from the Daily Wire's "The Michael Knowles Show," citing "misaligned values."
- Tucker Carlson and his media company co-founder Neil Patel launched a nicotine pouch product called ALP last year as a joint venture with Turning Point Brands, a publicly traded smoking accessories company.
- TPB's share price has skyrocketed by more than 50% since ALP's launch announcement in November, reaching an all-time high last month.
MAGA has a similarly mixed bag when it comes to retail boycotts, but it was partially responsible for getting Cracker Barrel to bring back its old logo after changes sparked outrage among conservatives.
The big picture: MAGA's boycott push follows what conservatives believe to be yearslong efforts to censor their voices by mainstream media and Big Tech firms.
- Nearly every major tech company deplatformed President Trump following the Jan. 6 Capitol raid in 2021. Many also banned prominent conservative influencers and accounts.
- Over the past few years, conservatives have made a concerted effort to build their own right-wing economy to hedge against any left-leaning boycotts. But most Big Tech firms and large media brands are trying to exercise more caution now before implementing major bans.
