In this piece, we will take a look at the 20 most hated brands in the world. If you are not interested in reading the details, head straight to the 5 Most Hated Brands in the World.
Starting a business in the US is the first step in building a global brand since it is a land of opportunities, where anyone with a great idea, the drive to succeed, and a willingness to work hard can prosper. Some well-known brands that originated in the United States and have now gone global include Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), The Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER), and Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT). Brands offer the innovations, concepts, and solutions that customers demand. In addition, they also contribute to the economy by generating wealth and income, paying taxes, supporting services, and making jobs available to the active population of a country.
Although businesses and brands make our lives easier, there are a number of negative aspects to them, which is why some people have such a strong disdain or even hatred for them. Don’t Miss:15 Most Hated Companies in America last year.
Americans believe businesses are performing below expectations in various areas, according to a Bentley-Gallup Force for Good survey. 53% of Americans, who participated in the study, said that businesses generally have a negative impact on the environment. For large businesses, this number increased to 65%. Americans also believe that businesses are failing in the area of pay disparity. 82% of respondents said that it is crucial to treat all workers fairly and 72% agreed that they would be ready to pay more for a product from a company that treats its employees well. Moreover, the study also found that 55% of American workers, including 71% of those aged 18 to 29, would switch jobs to work for a company that had a greater beneficial impact on the globe.
In a similar vein, Millennials' tolerance for large companies declined in 2019. According to a Deloitte Millennial Survey, fewer Millennials (from 76% in 2017 to 55% in 2019) agreed that business had a beneficial impact on society. Additionally, 26% of Millennials expressed no faith in corporate executives.
Most Loved and Successful Brands Have the Most Haters
Many experts believe that if you want to be great, you must be prepared to face hatred. So, it should come as no surprise that some of the most admired brands in the world are also some of the most despised. Moreover, this hatred toward a brand isn't always detrimental to its financial standing. For instance, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has faced significant backlash following the announcement of 27,000 layoffs since November 2022. Nevertheless, the e-commerce behemoth, which has a large product range, a user-friendly website, is simple to use, and offers quick and dependable shipping, is still one of the most loved and trusted brands by customers. 89% of consumers think that they are more inclined to purchase things from Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) than from any other e-commerce websites.
Similarly, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) appears to be loved and despised by people everywhere. Many hate it due to privacy concerns, but more than 77% of Internet users are active on at least one of its platforms. This clearly shows how successful the brand is.
Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT), one of the largest retailers in the world, is yet another example of a brand that people claim to dislike, but it continues to be profitable every year. It is accused of treating its employees unfairly. Furthermore, critics argue that the big-box giant has swooped in many places and destroyed local small businesses, leaving customers no other options. We believe that success of its business model is much to blame for that.
It's easy to understand why brands people dislike persist. If there are significant benefits, customers will stick with a brand they don't like. Many customer decisions are heavily influenced by elements like price, convenience, and easy availability. For example, if a better airline cannot provide equal availability and affordability, consumers will continue to fly with the airline they dislike.
Therefore, it is crucial to keep in mind that just because a brand is listed in this article as one of the most despised brands in the world, it doesn't automatically mean that it is no longer significant. This brand had to be on the list even though more people love it than hate it because we were focusing on the latter criteria.
With these considerations in mind, let's look at the most hated brands in the world.
20 Most Hated Brands in the World
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Our Methodology
We used reputable sources for our rankings of the most hated brands in the world, including the 2023 Axios Harris Poll, 24/7 Wall Street, Business Insider, and USA Today. In addition, we took into account a number of online reviews and customer survey platforms. We assigned scores to each brand based on the number of mentions, so each time a brand was mentioned, it received a score of 1. Consequently, the more mentions and references, the higher the score and rank in our article. Basically, this list of the most hated brands in the world doesn't reflect our opinion but the consensus opinion of various sources.
So, without further ado, let's examine the most hated brands in the world that must work very hard to regain the faith of their customers.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), as reported in one of articles earlier, is one of the top drug companies in the world by revenue. It headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
The company came under intense criticism following many lawsuits that claim its baby powder causes ovarian cancer. However, the pharmaceutical giant agreed to pay $8.9 billion in April 2023 to settle all cancer lawsuits related to its talc-based powders.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), with around 232.5 million subscribers, is a streaming service that offers a wide variety of award-winning TV shows, movies, anime, documentaries, and more on thousands of internet-connected devices.
Although the streaming service continues to be a favorite among many, it recently attracted public criticism for only allowing members of the same household to share passwords, with outside users having to pay an extra $7.99 per month. However, we don't think that Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)’s inclusion on our list of the most hated brands in the world will have a negative impact on its reputation.
Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI), one of the most hated brands in the world on our list, is an American student loan servicer based in Wilmington, Delaware.
People despise the company because it takes advantage of borrowers by disregarding concerns, providing false information, processing payments improperly, and directing borrowers to more expensive repayment plans. Between November 2016 and January 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau claims receiving over 1,500 consumer complaints about the company.
A $1.85 billion settlement was reached between 39 states and Navient Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVI) last year on claims that the company used unfair and deceptive loan practices.
Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER), with 32,800 employees as of 2022, primarily offers taxi services, allowing customers to hail a taxi through a mobile app.
The company is disliked for its surge pricing as well as the negative effects of gig work replacing secure employment. Moreover, it is also disliked for causing disruption to the taxi industry and aggravating traffic congestion.
However, Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) offers several benefits, such as door-to-door convenience, safety, and dependable quality, thus we don't believe it deserves to be one of the most hated brands in the world.
The bank earned the ire of general public when common people lost their homes, their jobs and their savings during the 2008 recession. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) agreed to pay $5.06 billion in 2016 to resolve charges that it mislead mortgage bond investors during the financial crisis.
Furthermore, it has also received criticism from its employees. A 2021 poll of 13 first-year analysts at Goldman Sachs found that they were subjected to extremely long work hours, deadline pressure, and harsh behavior from superiors, which deteriorates their personal lives.
The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI), with 71,300 employees as of 2022, engages in the provision of global health services. Forbes claims that state regulators get more consumer complaints about the company's health insurance than the national average. Based on ratings from the National Committee for Quality Assurance, it receives an average of 3.3 out of 5 stars.
Moreover, the Guardian reported in 2021 that the company's call center employees complained about unfavorable working conditions. High demands for output, the risk of losing one's job, lack of training, and lengthy processing timeframes for consumers seeking reimbursement for Covid-19 testing expenses were the driving forces behind this.
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), engaged in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance, is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The bank received a lot of criticism in 2016 when it became known that its staff had been engaging in illicit practices for years. These included activities like overcharging clients, creating fake accounts, and unlawfully repossessing cars and homes.
Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD), headquartered in Menlo Park, California, is an online discount brokerage that offers a commission-free investing and trading platform.
The company was at the center of the short squeeze saga between retail investors and hedge funds in early 2021, resulting in losses worth billions to hedge funds. Despite the benefits enjoyed by retail traders on the platform, like no-fee trading, users on internet platform Reddit, many of whom are retail traders, accused the company of bias towards big finance. The platform halted trading in volatile stocks like GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) and AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AMC), favored by retail traders, at the height of the short squeeze drama. In July 2021, the firm was fined $70 million by authorities in the US for operational and regulatory lapses.
United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL), founded in 1926, is an American international airline serving North America, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe.
The airline, one of the most disliked brands on our list, has previously dealt with widely reported instances of poor customer service, including events in which staff members injured clients, threatened them, and mistreated their pets.
United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) faced a turbulent public reaction over its treatment of a passenger who was forcibly hauled out of his seat and off the plane, with blood streaming down his face, after the airline stated it needed "volunteers" to give up their seats for employees.
Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX), headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is a credit bureau that collects information about an individual's credit history to create a credit report.
Given that it failed to secure the enormous amount of personal information stored on its network, which resulted in a data breach in 2017 that exposed millions of names and dates of birth, Social Security numbers, physical addresses, and other personal information that could result in identity theft and fraud, the general public is less forgiving of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX).
10. Bitcoin
Bitcoin, introduced to the public in 2009, is a decentralized digital currency that you can buy, sell and exchange directly, without an intermediary like a bank.
Bitcoin has drawn criticism for its high volatility and lack of regulation. In addition, it is also harmful to the environment. The University of Cambridge estimates that since its launch, Bitcoin has released 200 million tons of carbon dioxide.
However, it is viewed by some, especially in the developing world, as a safe haven amid economic storms, despite being disliked for its volatility. In September 2021, El Salvador became the first nation to recognize Bitcoin as a legal tender, followed by the Central African Republic last year.
9. FTX
FTX, formerly one of the leading crypto exchanges in the world, filed for bankruptcy on November 11, 2022. US crypto investors sued the company in November last year, alleging that its top executives stole their digital assets and purposely blocked them from making withdrawals. Users of the platform also claim they received scam messages asking for their account details on FTX. In some instances, the founder of the firm, Sam Bankman-Fried, was featured in a deep fake video claiming to double customer crypto compensation.
BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP), headquartered in London, is a British multinational oil and gas company. The firm has faced criticism for lowering its climate targets and increasing its investments in oil and gas. The energy giant has lowered its initial objective of a 35%-40% reduction in carbon emissions to a target of 20%-30%.
Furthermore, BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) is also remembered for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster.
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA), headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world, as we previously reported in an article. Federal officials fined the company $2.3 million in 2016 for billing customers with unnecessary services and hidden fees. According to the Consumer Reports National Research Center’s 2013 annual telecom survey, the company ranked 15th out of 17 television service providers. Consumers gave it extremely low ratings for customer service and value for the money.
6. TikTok
TikTok, owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance, is a video-sharing app that allows users to create and share short-form videos on any topic.
As concerns over privacy and cybersecurity increase, an increasing number of governments have banned this app from devices provided to employees. Users of social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Reddit, and Instagram often complain about the popularity of the TikTok brand among young children. These users claim that TikTok management does not moderate content diligently to protect children from harmful material.
