Calls for a mass boycott of Disney streaming services echoed across social media after its subsidiary, ABC, suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! and refused to bring it back. But instead of damage control, Disney appears to be doubling down and angering its already dwindling subscriber base.
In a viral TikTok, one frustrated customer blasted Disney for hiking subscription prices just a week after the boycott gained momentum. “Disney, you have lost your mind,” she attacked the company, reminding them, “we [subscribers] are barely still here” after the controversy. However, Disney seems to be trying to recoup its financial losses by squeezing those who haven’t yet canceled.
“You’re raising the prices on Hulu and Disney and ESPN. Are you kidding me, is this a joke? Are you doing a bit? A bad, bad bit? We’re barely still here, okay?”
“I just happen to be addicted to cable. That’s a problem I have, that’s why I didn’t cancel Hulu,” she admitted. But Disney’s latest move, she argued, is pushing even reluctant subscribers like her over the edge. Calling herself a “high-functioning Disney adult,” she mocked the company’s tone-deaf decision: “Am I supposed to be like, ‘yeah, that’s good?’,””a sentiment many frustrated customers echoed after receiving the dreaded price-hike email.
“Why on earth after half of the universe cancelled their Hulu and Disney days ago, would you send us an email being like ‘By the Way we wanted to reward your subscription by raising the prices.’ Are you kidding me?”
She also pointed out that it isn’t the subscribers who need Disney right now, but Disney that needs its subscribers. With no major new shows rolling out and little fresh content to justify the added cost, the company’s decision to hike prices in the middle of a boycott has been labeled plainly stupid. “I can’t do this anymore,” the TikToker concluded, capturing the frustration of many long-time customers who feel the company is driving away the very audience it should be fighting to keep.
