Talk:John Antioco

Infobox and Early life request
Hey there, Wikipedia. Right off the bat, I would like to disclose my conflict of interest: I run a small consulting firm that is working with John Antioco and I will be proposing edits to this page in that capacity. My full COI disclosure is available on my user page.

I know that my COI means I can’t make direct edits to Mr. Antioco’s page and so I will try to put forth well-sourced suggestions that conform with Wikipedia’s content guidelines and ask for an unbiased editor’s help in making changes to the page.

With all that out of the way, I would like to make some initial edit requests, starting the page's infobox, which is obviously inadequate as-is. I was thinking this would suffice:

I also wanted to propose a brief Early life and education section. Here's what that would look like:

"Early life and education"

John Antioco was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a milkman, whom Antioco would sometimes accompany on his morning delivery route. He is a graduate of the New York Institute of Technology, where he earned a B.S. in Business Administration.

I'd be very grateful if an editor could help me make these improvements to the page. I also welcome any feedback on what I could do better here. Thanks! Daryl at McGriffin Media (talk) 16:08, 25 January 2022 (UTC)


 * These edits have been made, with some adaptations to Wiki formatting. The citations in the information box might be overkill, so other editors are encouraged to review and make appropriate edits to conform to WP:Style. The biography section probably also needs a second look, but these suggested edits by the conflict of interest editor are appropriate and improve the article while getting the conversation started about other potential changes and improvements. I also marked this as a completed edit request. Go4thProsper (talk) 13:21, 6 February 2022 (UTC)

To further improve the page, I have put together a Career section that covers Mr. Antioco's professional life. You can see that new request below. Since you handled these initial edits, I thought I would ask you if you had any interest in taking a look at it. Regardless, thanks again for your help with the infobox and Early life stuff. Daryl at McGriffin Media (talk) 21:17, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

Career request
Hello again!

I'm very grateful that the infobox and Early life details have been updated. Now I want to move on to a more significant request. To be clear, I am making this as a paid representative of Mr. Antioco.

The page as currently constructed doesn't have much information on Mr. Antioco's career, which spans several decades and many companies. So I put together a draft for a new Career section. It covers:


 * Mr. Antioco's 20 years at 7-Eleven, where he occupied various roles
 * Details on his time as COO of Pearle Vision, CEO of Circle K, and CEO of Taco Bell
 * A synopsis of the roughly 10 years he spent as Blockbuster CEO
 * Details on work Mr. Antioco has done as a private investor with his investment firm JAMCO, as well as a few significant events from his tenure as Rave Cinemas CEO

This draft is quite long, so I've uploaded it to my user page. That way, editors can review and make suggestions as to how the draft can be improved without cluttering this Talk page.

Would anyone like to take a look? Even just the first subsection or two would be a good start. Thanks! Daryl at McGriffin Media (talk) 21:12, 23 February 2022 (UTC)


 * Hey, User:Go4thProsper! Sorry about the formatting error above. I'm still pretty new to Wikipedia. I'm just checking in to see if you got my message and would like to help out with reviewing my proposed Career section draft. If not, no worries, but I thought I'd make sure. Thanks! Daryl at McGriffin Media (talk) 18:49, 3 March 2022 (UTC)
 * I do not plan to make any additional edits to this article, but other editors are encouraged to review the request and make any appropriate edits. Go4thProsper (talk) 03:05, 5 March 2022 (UTC)


 * Hi, User:Stephen_Hui! I'm a COI editor here on behalf of Mr. Antioco, and I’ve been working with editors to update his page. A few weeks ago, I posted this request to add a new Career section. The current article doesn’t speak to Mr. Antioco’s c-suite and CEO roles at 7-Eleven, Circle K, Blockbuster, and several other large companies, so I put together a draft to better represent his robust career. I noticed that you made several constructive edits to the article a few years ago, and that you are still a fairly active editor now. Might you have any interest in reviewing my draft? It’s available in full on my user page. I believe it’s well-sourced and will improve the article, and would very much appreciate any assistance you’d be willing to provide to review it for me! Thank you. Daryl at McGriffin Media (talk) 18:32, 18 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Hi — I've been going through the edit request backlog. Unless is particularly eager to take over, I'll do a read-through of your draft and update this article and/or request accordingly. WhinyTheYounger (WtY)  (talk, contribs)  00:31, 20 March 2022 (UTC)
 * I'm not planning any further edits to this article, so you please go ahead. Thanks! Stephen Hui (talk) 00:36, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

Not done for now: The draft is for the most part good. The primary concern I have is with the coverage of the refused Netflix takeover. There is an abundance of sources that detail Antioco's refusal to seriously consider Netflix's proposal; anecdotally, I distinctly remember that being the subject of a podcast, and I'm not even very interested in the world of business. Antioco's denial of the facts relayed by the Netflix founders is fine to include, but my concern is that it establishes a false impression that this is a disputed fact in broader coverage, which it isn't. Variety cited a third party — another Blockbuster Executive — whose account very much accords with Netflix's version of events. In that light, the paragraph that entails the Netflix–Blockbuster situation needs to more accurately reflect what the overwhelming body of reliable, independent coverage states, and avoid tacitly suggesting that it might just be a misunderstanding. (On a side note, post-2013 coverage from Newsweek is something Wikipedia approaches with caution because of the severe decline in its editorial standards it was acquired by another company; see WP:NEWSWEEK. Another source would be preferable, but isn't required per se.) WhinyTheYounger (WtY) (talk, contribs)  23:08, 22 March 2022 (UTC)


 * Hey, User:WhinyTheYounger! Thank you for the feedback. I understand what you mean about the way my draft frames the Netflix buyout issue. I think it's a valid criticism. What if instead of:


 * Netflix co-founders Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph have both claimed in books they wrote that in 2000, they offered to sell their company to Blockbuster for $50 million, but Antioco declined. Antioco has disputed this version of events, stating that he never had serious discussions with Hastings or Randolph about acquiring Netflix.


 * That passage read:


 * It has been widely reported that, in 2000, Netflix co-founders Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph offered to sell their company to Blockbuster for $50 million, but Antioco declined. Hastings and Randolph have also claimed this in books and interviews.  Antioco has disputed this version of events, stating that he never had serious discussions with Hastings or Randolph about acquiring Netflix.


 * The version in green includes the Variety piece you cited. I also added a | Guardian article in which Marc Randolph repeats Netflix's version of events. I left the other sources intact, as you can see from the reference list above. I think my amended version addresses your criticism that my draft makes Mr. Antioco turning down Netflix sound like more of a disputed fact than the majority of media coverage would suggest. But let me know if you think the language is fair and correct. Thanks again for your feedback and I look forward to hearing from you. Daryl at McGriffin Media (talk) 18:24, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
 * This is acceptable, thank you for the changes. Adding to the article. WhinyTheYounger (WtY) (talk, contribs)  21:46, 25 March 2022 (UTC)

New infobox photo
Hello! I have just one more request to see if a new photo can be added to the Infobox, since there’s not one there now? I've uploaded a recent headshot of John Antioco to Wikimedia Commons that can be used: File:John_F_Antioco,_February_2022.jpg.

Might an editor be willing to add it to the page for me? User:WhinyTheYounger, you were a huge help with my previous requests, maybe this is something you’d have a moment to help with too? Many thanks again, Daryl at McGriffin Media (talk) 22:09, 21 April 2022 (UTC)
 * ✅. Z1720 (talk) 13:01, 22 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Thank you so much. I appreciate your help! Daryl at McGriffin Media (talk) 01:26, 23 April 2022 (UTC)