Disney Parks rebrands Splash Mountain, Macy’s lays off 3,900 corporate employees, and Walmart gets backlash for ‘All Lives Matter’ t-shirts

Also: Amazon announces Climate Pledge Arena, Chuck E. Cheese parent files for bankruptcy, the COVID-19 messages that resonate with consumers,  and more.

Hello, communicators:

 CEC Entertainment—which operates 734 restaurants in 47 states as well as 16 countries, including Chuck E. Cheese—has filed for bankruptcy.

 CBS afiliiate KPIX 5 reported:

“The Chapter 11 process will allow us to strengthen our financial structure as we recover from what has undoubtedly been the most challenging event in our company’s history” said CEO David McKillips in a prepared statement.

The restaurant industry has been devastated by the coronavirus. Transactions at U.S. family dining restaurants plummeted more than 80% in mid-April, the height of the pandemic in the U.S., according to The NPD Group, a data and consulting firm.

The announcement seems at odds with Chuck E. Cheese’s official Twitter account, which tweeted this on Wednesday:

Today’s Afternoon Fun Break is a fun game with gifs on our instagram story called “My Favorite Things”! Spoiler Alert: I love 🍕! pic.twitter.com/Mtk3iBoXYn

— Chuck E. Cheese (@ChuckECheese) June 24, 2020

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