Political Activism Erodes Reputations of America’s Most Visible Brands

2025 Axios Harris Poll Has a Warning for Politically Pugnacious Companies

5/23/25 – – For the last six years, Axios and Harris Poll have teamed up to rank the reputations of the 100 most visible brands in America. The 2025 survey, released this week, underscores the reputational risk companies face when they wade into politics.

Here’s how the Axios Harris Poll ranking works: First, the public is surveyed to determine the 100 most visible brands in America. Then a new set of respondents is asked to rate the reputations of those 100 brands based on seven variables: affinity, ethics, growth, products/services, citizenship, vision and culture. This yields a “Reputation Quotient” score.

Here’s this year’s top 10 (high visibility and excellent reputation):

1. Trader Joe’s
2. Patagonia
3. Microsoft
4. Toyota Motor Corporation
5. Costco
6. Samsung
7. Arizona Beverage Company
8. Nvidia
9. UPS
10. Apple

Here’s the bottom 10 (high visibility, poor reputation):

90.   Temu

91.   ByteDance (TikTok)

92.   UnitedHealth Group

93.   Fox Corporation

94.   Shein

95.   Tesla Motors

96.   Wells Fargo & Company

97.   Meta (Facebook)

98.   X (formerly Twitter)

99.   The Trump Organization

100. Spirit Airlines

And here are the 10 brands in the top 100 that suffered the most reputational decline in the last year:

1. Tesla Motors (-14.1%)
2. The Boeing Company (-13.3%)
3. Space X (-13.3%)
4. The Walt Disney Company (-10.8%)
5. UnitedHealth Group (-10.0%)
6. Anheuser-Busch InBev (-8.6%)
7. Hobby Lobby (-5.0%)
8. Airbnb (-4.4%)
9. Amazon.com (-4.0%)
10. Walgreens (-3.5%)

These 10 high-visibility companies faced myriad challenges in 2024. For many, getting embroiled in politics and social activism was a major contributor to the reputational damage they suffered.

For example, we can debate whether Elon Musk’s starring role in the Trump campaign and administration has been a good thing for America. But it’s undeniable that Musk’s heightened political activism has been a bad thing, at least short term, for the reputations of Tesla and Space X.    

Of course, it’s not always wrong for companies to take this risk. Patagonia and Chick-fil-A, highly ranked year after year, express strong societal beliefs with consistency and authenticity. Consumers understand that the founders baked activism into their brands’ DNA. That’s not the case for Musk’s companies, Bud Light or Disney. Their brands and history, as well as the expectations of their consumers, do not align with an activist agenda.

Just scroll down this year’s list and the caution is clear: Even the strongest brands risk serious reputational erosion when they step out of character and jump into the briar patch of politics.

Here’s a link to the very insightful 2025 Axios Harris Poll 100 report:

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/20/axios-harris-poll-company-reputation-ranking?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axioscommunicators_pro&stream=top