They dumbed down long before that, that was just when you noticed. It was that success in the 80s that largely killed them, because they realized that their brand pushed product. The business turned to commercial branding or retail stores and selling random stuff, culminating in becoming one of the random logos on a bland Korean fashion brand. My guess is that many who were turned off because they "went woke" loved it when it was cranking out low quality tat or opening retail stores in tourist areas.

There's still plenty of room for high-quality writing about the world and its inhabitants; although the US is up its own ass there's the internet now. It's not a business where hundreds of millions of dollars should be involved.