Disney Digest 2/27/24 (The Wendy’s-Peltz Combo, Candle Media’s Troubles, The Magic of Cast, and More)

Prices are going up, the Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer’s Candle is burning down, and I remember those who really make the magic at Disney.

Biggie Meal for Biggie Price Coming to Disney?

It was announced today that Wendy’s will now start “surge pricing” by charging more for their burgers, fries, and Frostys during peak periods. While this is not a Disney story, the chairman of Wendy’s is (wait for it) Nelson Peltz — who is trying to gain two board seats through a proxy battle at Disney. Of course, Wendy’s should manage their business as they see fit, and Disney already uses flex pricing in various arenas. But if his big innovation at Wendy’s is pricing adjustments, what are his big plans for Disney? He frequently displays a lack of understanding on how Disney works, so I figured I would give him some ideas on how he could apply his ideas at The Walt Disney Company.

I am being silly, of course, but the point I am trying to make is that this may actually be Nelson Peltz’s vision for Disney. We keep hearing that he wants to make changes, but what does he want to see? Without a plan, he is asking us to just trust him. But, based on what I have seen him do at other companies, I can’t accept him on faith.

Withering Candle

One of the things that I often hear is how Disney lost potential CEOs with Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs. But would they have been successful as potential CEOs? I could write a book about why they weren’t selected, but let’s take a look at what they have done since their departure.

Candle Media was co-founded by Mayer and Staggs and backed by the Blackstone investment group. They purchased Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine as well as other businesses such as Moonbug Entertainment and ATTN: while also making an investment in Will & Jada Smith’s Westbrook.

The problem is that they made these purchases in 2021 and 2022 when the media bubble was clearly going to pop. With all due respect to Witherspoon, the demand for content has burst and while she has made successful content, they are not franchise titles that guarantee ongoing revenue streams. I also don’t know that the Smith family ended up being a good call either…

Hollywood is littered with the husks of production companies that have become dormant due to changing tastes, scaling back of the principal creatives, and the lack of guarantee that anyone can make a hit. High profile talent from David Letterman to Matt Damon have started groups that start with the dream of creating a wide slate of content while ending up, at best, just funding their own projects.

What I don’t understand is how two media executives with such experience could make poor decisions. Perhaps they saw the tail-end of a rush to increase production investment and wanted to stake their claim even though it was clear to anyone paying attention that it wasn’t going to last. One of the most important things Disney’s CEO needs to do is to know when to ignore Wall Street. Just because something is buzzy on “the street,” doesn’t mean it is a good decision.

Remember when they wanted Disney to sacrifice theatrical distribution and just put everything on Disney+? While this ended up happening due to COVID, the whole entertainment industry is still trying to retrain the audience to go back to theaters so they can get the revenue they used to.  

While I really like Tom Staggs, I believe he frequently got blinded by new initiatives and failed to see the more logical balanced approach that is required for CEO. I hope they are able to turn Candle Media around, I just can’t seem to figure out how they will.

In the Mailbox

I got my latest issue of WDW Magazine which is “The 1970’s Issue.” While it is filled with great stories from Walt Disney World’s first decade, my favorite story is “My Grandfather and the Walt Disney World Railroad” by Megan duBois which is a personal story of a cast member who took so much pride with his role. I happened to work with the cast member, who has sadly passed, and it was inspiring to remember his dedication to the guests and his team members. Walt Disney World is just a bunch of cast members of various levels and roles trying to make decisions. It is so great to remember how so many of them are so passionate about the work they do.

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