The Walt Disney Company has seen its reputation fall further, with a drop to only “fair” for the first time ever on the influential Axios Harris Poll for 2025. This post takes a look at what changed, how Disney performed relative to the competition, along with our commentary about what this does–and does not–mean.
It’s been a rough few years for Disney’s reputation. This is a topic we’ve discussed at length, with Is Disney Ruining Its Reputation? and Disney’s Reputation Falls Further covering the company’s self-inflicted brand damage, loss of goodwill, and pricing perception problems. Those posts focused specifically on prior years of this Axios Harris reputation poll.
As of 2025, the focus has shifted. Fan concerns about Disney’s tarnished reputation are still front of mind, but we’ve seen the tone and tenor of those change. Look no further than Is Walt Disney World Pricing Out the Middle Class? That was one post in an ongoing series (see Walt Disney World is Worried About Its High Prices). Suffice to say, pricing is very much a hot-button issue with Disney fans, and for good reason.
Concerns about pricing are very much reflected in the Axios Harris Poll 100 and 2025 Corporate Reputation Rankings. This year, Trader Joe’s ranked #1, followed by many other value-prioritizing companies. This included Costco and Arizona Beverage Company, both of which have gained online fame and loyal fan-followings for their commitment to low prices.
Jim Sinegal, Costco’s co-founder, once told the company’s then-CEO Craig Jelinek, “If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.” And so, Costco’s hot dog deal is still priced at $1.50. That’s exactly what it cost in 1985, before the Great Recession, housing crisis, pandemic, and the latest bout of decades-high inflation.
Similarly, the 23-ounce can of AriZona Iced Tea has sold for 99 cents since 1992. Even amidst inflation and shrinkflation, AriZona has held strong. When asked on the Today show whether they’d raise prices, the company’s founder said: “Not in the foreseeable future. We’re gonna fight as hard as we can for consumers.” He added that AriZona is successful, debt free, so why do they need to raise prices? He continued: “Why have people who are having a hard time paying their rent have to pay more for our drink? Maybe it’s my little way to give back.”
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention that one of my personal favorite brands, In-N-Out Burger, made the list for the first time ever at #20. Its exclusion in the past likely has more to do with methodology and awareness since In-N-Out Burger is a regional brand. It is nevertheless a success story of value-for-money, high quality, and concern for customers.
Unfortunately, there are no fun anecdotes about In-N-Out’s founders threatening to murder anyone if they raise prices, which is likely because the family-run business tries to avoid the spotlight. And perhaps because they’re anti-murder. Hard to say. Here’s hoping that Buc-ee’s breaks through on the 2026 list!
As it turns out, pricing is the main theme of the 2025 Axios Harris Rankings. According to the pollsters, consumers criticized businesses for passing along higher costs, delivering poorer perceived quality for their stretched dollars, and even capitalizing on tariffs to pad profit margins:
- 77% of Americans say companies often sell lower-quality products & services while charging higher prices.
- 70% believe companies are taking further advantage of inflation to increase profit margins.
- 60% feel companies will use tariffs as an opportunity to raise prices more than needed to boost profits.
According to Axios, it’s prices as opposed to politics that are driving most brands’ reputations in the 2025 Axios Harris Poll 100 rankings, with the election in the rear-view mirror and tariffs and inflation top of mind. None of these priorities are the least bit surprising, and it’s also unsurprising that Disney might’ve fared negatively on a poll where consumers are fixated on costs.
Against that backdrop, here’s a look at Disney’s 2025 performance:
In 2025, the Walt Disney Company ranked #76 with a score of 69.6. It’s down 9 spots, which is far from the first time it’s been one of the companies that has taken the biggest tumbles in the rankings. This is the first time we’ve ever seen the score dip below 70, and puts Disney into the “fair” tier for the first time ever. While we’ll elaborate on this further in a bit, look at the little grey graphic to the left of the 69.6 score.
That shows Disney’s rankings trend since 2019, as the company has fallen from the top of the list to outside the top 75. If you look at the full list, you’ll see almost no other companies have seen this same type of slide. There are only two others–Boeing and Tesla–that have declined in the same way over the last 5+ years.
Here’s a look at just how much Disney has dropped since 2019, alongside other poor performers:
In 2024, Disney ranked #67 with a score of 71.8 and was in the “good” tier of the list. This could’ve been viewed as a comeback story, with the company gaining 10 spots and showing positive trajectory for the first time in several years.
That came off the company’s worst performance ever in 2023, when the Walt Disney Company had a score of 70.9 and ranked 77th, which was still in the “good” tier of the list. It’s in the “fair” higher with a higher ranking because most companies saw their scores decrease this year.
In 2022, Disney scored 73.4 and ranked 65th on the list, which was a drop of 28 spots as compared to 2021–meaning that the company was down 40 spots in the course of just a couple years.
For the duration of Bob Iger’s first tenure as CEO, Disney had scored above 80, always near the top of the list in the “Excellent” tier. Here’s a look at the consecutive years when Disney ranked as high as #5 on the list:
Before going further, it’s worth noting that there’s inconsistency in the rankings. Southwest Airlines dropped, but still ranks pretty high given the year it has had. Then there are companies like Walmart and McDonald’s, both of which have made a concerted effort to restore lower prices in some regards and still underperformed.
I’ll also admit to being surprised by multiple oil, pharmaceutical, and gambling companies outperform Disney (as well as other more consumer-oriented brands). If you asked the question differently–which brand do you respect more, BP or Disney?–I’d imagine more Americans would favor Disney. Ditto ExxonMobil vs. Taco Bell.
It’s possible that the Harris Poll is a flawed way to rank certain high profile companies and a good way to rank others. There are a lot of brands we’re generally aware of, but don’t hear about with regularity. The average American probably doesn’t know much about those businesses, which could explain why many of these companies yo-yo around the rankings.
By contrast, there are companies like Disney where the reputation is part and parcel of the brand itself. There are several lifestyle brands like this, that have actual enthusiasts and a wider degree of awareness among the general public. Aside from Disney, companies that come to mind here include Apple, Starbucks, Nike, Tesla, SpaceX, Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, Nintendo, and Trader Joe’s. There are undoubtedly others, as well.
Below is Disney’s 2025 breakdown in the individual category scores of Character, Trajectory, Trust, Culture, Ethics, Citizenship, Vision, Growth, and Products & Services. On the plus side, at least the ‘trajectory’ is high–suggesting there is optimism for where things are headed:
The plot twist here is that, despite the pollsters indicating that the 2025 Axios Harris reputation survey had more to do with prices than politics, the Walt Disney Company is actually one of the few exceptions to this.
According to Axios, Ben & Jerry’s (+16.4 D), Pfizer (+13.3 D) and the Walt Disney Company (+12.3 D) are the most polarizing companies that skew the most towards Democratic consumers in terms of reputational perceptions. Conversely, there are even bigger gaps for the companies that most skew toward Republicans: Elon Musk-brands Tesla (+32.3 R), X (+29.5 R) and Space X (+28.7 R); and the Trump Organization (+45.3 R).
With these notable exceptions, polarization scores have largely decreased across the rankings as a whole (hence prices mattering more than politics). “Are we now entering an era of post-polarization?” questioned John Gerzema, CEO of The Harris Poll. “We used to get so upset by the culture wars, and now the absolute dominant priority and attention has been focused by the consumer on value.”
To that point, 8 in 10 consumers told the pollsters that they care more about how brands can keep prices down than their politics. However, 2 in 3 say they aren’t interested in supporting companies that have become too political. But two-thirds also say political polarization in business is inevitable.
It’s also worth noting that companies like Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, and Chick-fil-A all ranked very highly despite politics. This could vindicate a “quality will win out” perspective, where consumers are willing to overlook differences of opinion if brands deliver quality products people love. Or perhaps that sincerely-held but quiet beliefs are more accepted? I know about the politics of all three brands, but their CEOs aren’t making constant headlines trumpeting their values.
With regard to Disney, what’s interesting is that the company has found itself mired in various political controversies–there’s no denying that. But those seemed to peak a couple of years ago and have died down over the last ~18 months. The last year in particular has been largely controversy-free for the company, at least in terms of coverage you’d see on the nightly news. Disney vs. DeSantis is long-settled, the last proxy fight has been over for a while, and it’s been over a year since the dust-up between Bob Iger and Elon Musk.
Since late 2023, CEO Bob Iger increasingly has stressed the importance of steering the company away from political messaging. “Our primary mission needs to be to entertain and then through our entertainment to continue to have a positive impact on the world. And I’m very serious about that. It should not be agenda-driven,” Iger said during the company’s 2023 investor meeting.
He has made similar statements on CNBC repeatedly, noting that he would “quiet the noise” in culture wars and make more of an effort to reach the audience that “can be turned off by certain things…We just have to be more sensitive to the interests of a broad audience. It’s not easy.” During the 2024 investor meeting, Iger said Disney’s job was to “entertain, first and foremost” and reiterated that “we know our job is not to advance any kind of agenda.”
It doesn’t end there, either. In “‘Politics is bad for business.’ Why Disney’s Bob Iger is trying to avoid hot buttons,” the Los Angeles Times offered a rundown of how and why the Walt Disney Company has backed away from the culture wars and tried to remove itself from controversies.
The Walt Disney Company has largely repaired its relationships with major U.S. political figures. Although it hasn’t garnered much media attention, Governor DeSantis has touted Disney’s investments in Florida and hasn’t had any negatives–only positives–to say about Disney over the last year.
Disney CEO Bob Iger and President Donald Trump have seemingly resolved their differences. During a press conference in Abu Dhabi to discuss investments between the UAE and US, Trump revealed that Iger paid a visit to the White House to show him Disneyland Abu Dhabi.
Here’s what Trump had to say about the meeting with Iger: “We have American companies [like] Disney [investing in the Middle East]. The new [Disneyland Abu Dhabi] theme park is going to be incredible. Bob Iger was in my office the other day and he was showing it to me. It’s going to be incredible.” Iger meeting with Trump is the most notable example, but it’s only one instance of many suggesting that the two have repaired their previously-strained relationship.
It’s fascinating that this Disney’s politically polarized reputation has been so “sticky” and hasn’t really reflected the controversy-free year that Disney has enjoyed. When trying to recall significant backlash within the last 6 months, the best I can come up with is the Snow White. That would’ve been released right as this polling was conducted, so perhaps that’s the big driver?
There are certainly assorted “controversies” within the fan community, but as far as the broader Disney-consuming public goes, I can’t really think of anything else from the last ~365 days. It’s been a mostly positive year for Disney on balance, with strong box office results, higher guest satisfaction scores for the parks, and an increasing Disney+ domestic subscriber count.
Perhaps most notably for broader public perceptions, Disney dominated the box office last year. Inside Out 2, Moana 2, and Deadpool & Wolverine were all huge hits. Other films performed really well and added to Disney’s box office haul, but I’m skeptical those movies (e.g. Alien Romulus) would register with the public as being “Disney,” and that’s what matters for the purpose of the survey.
Star Wars and Marvel have continued to underperform expectations, and there’s undeniably a lot of breathless coverage about this online. It’s difficult to discern the extent to which this is organic and mainstream, and the extent to which it’s manufactured outrage online driven by ragebait. As someone with only a passing interest in both Star Wars and the MCU, my perception is just that the quality is low because too much of it has been churned out. I’m inclined to believe “fatigue” and bad reviews/word of mouth are a bigger driver of this than politicized content.
Personally, I’m skeptical that any announcements the company has made for the theme parks would materially impact their reputation. Disgruntled theme park fans may not want to hear this, and point to unpopular decisions like replacing MuppetVision, razing the Rivers of America, poorly-received ride reimaginings, DAS changes, Lightning Lane Premier Pass, and so forth.
Much of this is unpopular with hardcore fans, but not the general public. If it’s on their radar at all (and it mostly isn’t), the perception is probably very different. When I’ve explained to normie friends what’s happening, they’re more focused on the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster and Cars Land parts of the news.
Some of this has ‘broken containment’ from our sphere, but honestly, whenever I see coverage of the Rivers of America in mainstream outlets, the broader reaction mostly seems to be that Disney Adults are weird. Which, sure, we are…but we’re also right about this being a mistake!
All of this is precisely why, when I first read the Axios Harris press release about prices mattering more than politics, it all made sense that Disney would’ve seen its reputation fall further to “fair.”
Disney has garnered a lot of negative media scrutiny about pricing. There was that bombshell article in the Wall Street Journal back in February (shortly before this polling), and that led to tremendous fallout and broader conversation about Disney’s high prices and affordability among average middle class Americans. That garnering so much attention is likely what led to “Cool Kid Summer” and an influx of discounts. While the theme parks aren’t everything for consumers, streaming service prices have also increased.
So if pricing is seemingly the more logical explanation for Disney’s decline, why does its polarization remain so high? My best guess is that political coverage and perceptions of Disney haven’t improved all that much. The company became a poster child for cultural polarization, and that damage isn’t undone easily or overnight. It probably also doesn’t help that the quality of content has still been hit or miss. Basically, there have been enough negative headlines to maintain baked-in perceptions and not enough positive news to undo previous damage. Honestly, I have no clue–just spitballing.
What I do know is that this matters a lot to Disney. Both public perceptions–which is precisely why Bob Iger has worked to consciously uncouple from culture wars–and the brand’s ranking on this particular poll by Axios Harris. This list is highly as influential within the industry, including with Bob Iger, who according to the Wall Street Journal, based some of his fears that his successor/predecessor Bob Chapek was killing the soul of the company on this same poll.
Iger feared then that fans were “falling out of love” with the Disney brand. And those results were better than 2025! Suffice to say, the Axios Harris Poll is important to the company and its CEO (Disney touted being one of the highest-ranking companies on the poll as recently as 2019). There’s no way to spin this or paint it in a positive light: the results are bad (again) for Disney.
While I have no clue how to reconcile the politics vs. pricing perceptions, my advice to Disney would be to follow the lead of the companies that have seen their rankings rise over the last few years. Even though the businesses are very different, lessons can be learned from Trader Joe’s, Patagonia, Costco, Arizona Beverages, Nintendo, and yes, even In-N-Out Burger. A couple of these charge premium prices, but they also deliver commensurately premium products. The moral of the story: “quality will win out…it’s proven it’s a good business policy. Give the public everything you can give them, keep the place as clean as you can keep it, keep it friendly.” ~Walt Disney.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What’s your take on Disney’s spot on the 2025 Axios Harris Poll 100? Think the company can bounce back with focusing more on quality, and less on politics? Think pricing or value for money actually does play a role in the rank, even if the pollsters disagree? Will another year removed from controversies help? Hope Disney gets its groove back soon? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
