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Several companies have suffered brand-destroying P.R. blunders and scandals in the past year. These types of massive missteps by companies can cause public perception to go down the toilet, which can kill profits and even bankrupt a business. USA Today revealed America’s 20 most-hated comapnies this week.
The list’s methodology used news headlines from the last year, customer survey results from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, employee reviews on Glassdoor, and an annual customer satisfaction survey.
Some of the notable companies who made the list are The Weinstein Company at #20 for obvious reasons after the accusations against the ousted co-founder, Harvey Weinstein. Two airlines made the list because airlines are already hated; United Airlines at #19 and Spirit Airlines at #7.
Facebook was included at #18 because of its role in the 2016 presidential election and helping spread fake news and ads. Comcast came in at #15 because cable companies aren’t the most beloved business on the planet. After a very tumultuous 2017, Uber came in at #14. The Trump Organization suffered in the P.R. department after Donald Trump became the President of the United States. Vice Media came in at #8 after allegations of harassment.
The top five included Electronic Arts at #5, which botched Star Wars: Battlefront II‘s microtransaction system and alienated gamers. The University of Phoenix came in at #4 because of “aggressive and deceptive recruiting, advertising, and financial aid practices.”
The NFL was #3 following the national anthem controversy and Fox Entertainment Group was #2 because of several harassment claims. The #1 most-hated company is Equifax. The consumer credit reporting company was hacked last year and personal data of over 145 million Americans were stolen.
You can see the entire list over at USA Today.