{"id":8585,"date":"2016-12-29T11:23:38","date_gmt":"2016-12-29T11:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/?p=8585"},"modified":"2024-06-13T06:17:29","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T06:17:29","slug":"10-brands-hated-in-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Brands People Hated The Most In 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As they say, word gets around fast. Today\u2019s almost  ubiquitous promulgation of information means brands and large corporations can  become the subject of harsh public opinion.<\/p>\n<p>Luckily, for some companies, a poor reputation seemingly  seems to have very little impact on their bottom line. Others, however, don\u2019t  fare so well because they have managed to generate serious outrage from their  employees, customers and investors.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve put together a list of 20 of the most hated brands in  2016 and how they fell from grace.<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top:40px; margin-bottom:40px;\" align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/logos\/search?utm_source=10-brands-hated-in-2016&amp;utm_medium=topbutton&amp;utm_campaign=ctatracking\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"cta-button\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Professional Logo Maker<\/a><\/div>\n<h2>1. Wells Fargo<\/h2>\n<p align=\"center\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Pn0GDCku0Cs\" allowfullscreen=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"336\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In September, Wells Fargo managed to spark nationwide fury  when it was discovered that account executives had opened more than <a href=\"http:\/\/fortune.com\/2016\/10\/12\/wells-fargo-fake-accounts-scandal\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>2  million bogus accounts<\/strong><\/a> without any customer consent whatsoever. What\u2019s more  disturbing is that employees who knew about the shoddy selling practices were  fired when they tried to alert the firm\u2019s ethics hotline.<\/p>\n<p>CEO at Wells Fargo, John Stumpf, was quick to pin the  massive scandal on a few \u201ckey players\u201d inside his company and completely failed  to come to terms with the high-pressure sales culture, which propelled the  fraudulent scheme.<\/p>\n<p>Financial expert at The Daily Gazette, Melissa Arnoff, was  recorded as saying that it was quite odd the CEO waited so long to come out in  the open and then pin it squarely on his employees. She said the employees  creating the accounts were certainly to blame but nobody stepped up to remedy  the internal system as the practice went on for 5 years, involving over 5,000  employees.<\/p>\n<p>The company currently sports a one-star out of five rating  on the Consumer Affairs site with close to 2,000 negative reviews. It seems  quite doubtful if Wells Fargo will ever be able to completely win back consumer  trust.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>2. Volkswagen<\/h2>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Volkswagen.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Volkswagen.png\" alt=\"volkswagen\" title=\"volkswagen\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8587\" width=\"600\" height=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Volkswagen.png 900w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Volkswagen-300x180.png 300w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Volkswagen-768x461.png 768w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Volkswagen-500x300.png 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.autonews.com\/article\/20151104\/COPY01\/311049927\/vw-scandal-widens-to-fuel-consumption-figures\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Volkswagen decline in 2015 was all over the news as US  regulators in September last discovered that the German manufacturer\u2019s diesel  vehicles were emitting far more pollutants than what the company admitted to or  claimed.<\/p>\n<p>The company had seemingly installed a device in about 11  million cars globally that was capable of deceiving emission tests. A month  later, CEO Martin Winterkorn surrendered the company reigns and was quoted as  saying: <em>\u201cAbove all, I am stunned that  misconduct on such a scale was possible in the Volkswagen Group.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Volkswagen\u2019s fallout could not have come at a worse time \u2013 just  a few months prior, in July, the famed auto manufacturer made headlines for  overtaking Toyota to become the largest automaker ever. Thanks to the emission  scandal, Toyota reclaimed their former glory in a month.<\/p>\n<p>The last quarter of 2015 saw the entire auto industry  reporting record sales numbers, while VW\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/neilwinton\/2015\/10\/19\/volkswagen-sales-start-to-feel-the-impact-of-diesel-scandal\/#3fea5cc55e91\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\"><strong>sales  sunk by 11.3%<\/strong><\/a>. Additionally, the US Justice Department <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2016-06-28\/volkswagen-to-pay-14-7-billion-to-settle-u-s-emissions-claims\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\"><strong>slammed  VW with penalties<\/strong><\/a> exceeding $19 billion. There were also reports at the  time that the manufacturer was considering buying back 50,000 sold vehicles  outfitted with the illegal device.<\/p>\n<p>Good on the manufacturer\u2019s part, though it\u2019s quite hard to  say if Volkswagen will ever be as popular as some of its German counterparts  like Audi. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>3. Wal-Mart<\/h2>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Wal-Mart.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Wal-Mart.png\" alt=\"wal mart\" title=\"wal mart\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8588\" width=\"600\" height=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Wal-Mart.png 1000w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Wal-Mart-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Wal-Mart-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Wal-Mart-450x300.png 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/06\/07\/business\/more-dissent-is-in-store-over-wal-mart-scandal.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A poor reputation can certainly spell disaster for a brand\u2019s  bottom line, though this hasn\u2019t been the case with the global superstore  Wal-Mart, which has been recorded as the largest and most profitable company in  the US.<\/p>\n<p>In the fiscal year 2015, Wal-Mart reported a staggering global  revenue: <a href=\"http:\/\/fortune.com\/2015\/06\/06\/walmart-facts\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>$485.7 billion<\/strong><\/a> with a profit of $16.8 billion. The company is also the largest private sector  employer in the US and its low wages might explain why it has reached such  unprecedented financial success.<\/p>\n<p>In February 2017, Wal-Mart announced an increase in its  minimum wage to $10 an hour for US employees. However, this increase is simply  inadequate for many workers because they struggle with insufficient hours; the  company uses this tactic to keep employees away from its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joinwarp.com\/blog\/do-startups-really-need-a-por-or-eor-for-payroll\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"broken_link\">full-time payroll<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the fact that it generates massive profits and  revenues, shoppers have been complaining about its decline for years \u2013 a  decline in inventory and customer service to be precise. Furthermore, industry  groups have brought the traditionally low wages to light time and time again.<\/p>\n<h2>4. Chipotle<\/h2>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Chipotle.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Chipotle.png\" alt=\"chipotle\" title=\"chipotle\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8589\" width=\"600\" height=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Chipotle.png 800w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Chipotle-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Chipotle-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Chipotle-400x300.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/chipotles-past-food-poisoning-outbreaks-2015-11\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A surprising and disturbing turn of events last year was the  key suspects involved in Chipotle\u2019s downfall. Ironically, the Mexican  restaurant has always promoted safety standards and focus on high food quality,  which now it seems, is combating a slew of evidence against not meeting those  standards.<\/p>\n<p>In July 2015, multiple food contamination illnesses affected  dozens of diners in Chipotle locations all over the US. The tomato-borne  Salmonella virus struck 64 people in Minnesota, while reports of the Norovirus  emerged in Boston and California.<\/p>\n<p>If this weren\u2019t enough to hurt Chipotle\u2019s reputation, an E.  coli outbreak struck over 50 diners in 12 states. The company soon faced  multiple lawsuits, including a class action lawsuit slammed by investors which  laid bare the fact that Chipotle made false claims about its safety standards,  even after the virus outbreaks.<\/p>\n<p>The FDA\u2019s Office of Criminal Investigations soon launched a  probe in the <a href=\"http:\/\/fortune.com\/2016\/01\/21\/chipotle-accused-norovirus-cover-up\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Norovirus  incident in California<\/strong><\/a> as the U.S. District Court for the Central District  of California ordered the restaurant to produce pieces of evidence to back up  its claims.<\/p>\n<p>Following the outbreaks, Chipotle has settled more than 100  claims from customers who were struck by the viruses. However, it still faces a  civil lawsuit and a federal crime probe over allegations pertaining to false  food-safety standards and protocols.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"background:#f2f2f2;padding:5px;\">Related: <strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/taco-bell-logo-spawns-distrust\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New Logo of Taco Bell Spawns Distrust<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h2>5. SeaWorld<\/h2>\n<p align=\"center\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nUshlNu6MT8\" allowfullscreen=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"336\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>A 2013 movie, Blackfish, attracted a lot of public criticism  questioning SeaWorld\u2019s level of morality in day-to-day operations. Following  the movie\u2019s release, the company\u2019s financial woes have really snowballed.&nbsp; That same year SeaWorld\u2019s shares sunk from  $27 to $19 a piece.<\/p>\n<p>Another major blow to the company\u2019s public relations and  bottom line: the death of three whales over a span of six months in 2015.  Killer whales typically live anywhere between 30 and 50 years; the most recent  whale at SeaWorld barely lived up to 19.<\/p>\n<p>SeaWorld claimed that the orca\u2019s premature death due to  stress induced by a captive life were unsubstantiated. Amid intense pressure  from animal rights activists, the company has ended its killer whale show in  San Diego, though it remains one of the most hated brands in 2016.<\/p>\n<h2>6. Twitter<\/h2>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Twitter.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Twitter.png\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"twitter\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8590\" width=\"600\" height=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Twitter.png 850w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Twitter-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Twitter-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Twitter-500x281.png 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2016\/02\/the-reason-twitters-losing-active-users\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The once high-flying social  media giant is now facing troubling times. Even though Twitter continues to  grow its ad revenue, the one metric considered most crucial in Silicon Valley \u2013  user growth \u2013 has been on the decline for the past nine quarters in a row.<\/p>\n<p>The tech company has let go  9% of its workforce and put an end to Vine, the looping video application. Even  though Twitter played an active role in the presidential race, it failed to  gain business momentum. The company also approached tech giants like Apple,  Salesforce and Google in an acquisition bid, which was reportedly turned down.<\/p>\n<p>Twitter had super-hyped their  plan to livestream NFL games on Thursday nights, but now it looks like it will  generate a mere $11 million in incremental ad revenue. While Twitter does seem  a bit out of place on this list, as it isn\u2019t quite a hated brand as some of the  other \u201cworthy contenders\u201d, we thought it\u2019s worth mentioning as it\u2019s just not  the driving force it used to be.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"background:#f2f2f2;padding:5px;\">Related: <strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/snapchat-goes-snap\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Snapchat Goes \u2018Snap\u2019; Is Snapchat Venturing Into Hardware?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h2>7. NFL<\/h2>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NFL.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NFL.png\" alt=\"NFL\" title=\"NFL\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8591\" width=\"600\" height=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NFL.png 800w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NFL-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NFL-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/NFL-500x281.png 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/14672860\/nfl-says-diagnosed-concussions-way-season\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The NFL, which once used to  dominate ratings and viewership, has now been dubbed as a badly managed brand  year after year. Viewership is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/photo\/2016\/10\/20\/nfl-television-ratings-decline-causes\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>down by 11%<\/strong><\/a> in the first 6 weeks of the season. After all, the league has been marred by  problems as of late.<\/p>\n<p>Pro football losing its  popularity is not entire the NFL\u2019s fault though: the US elections and The Cubs  World Series had everyone glued to their screens. Furthermore, audiences are  now more aware of concussion risks, especially since the release of Will  Smith\u2019s film \u201cConcussion\u201d where he portrays the real life <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biography.com\/news\/concussion-movie-true-story\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\"><strong>Dr. Bennet Omalu<\/strong><\/a>, a pathologist on a mission to uncover the long-term brain damage  football players are subjected to.<\/p>\n<p>Interest in live TV viewing  has been waning and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/blog\/nflnation\/post\/_\/id\/221815\/nfl-players-who-protested-during-the-national-anthem-in-week-11\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\"><strong>national anthem protests<\/strong><\/a> have put off many fans. However, the NFL has taken a  few missteps which lead to its widespread unpopularity such as the <a href=\"http:\/\/bigstory.ap.org\/article\/dfba7bfb0e7747b6bee9700de4693153\/players-annoyed-nfls-crackdown-celebrations\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>crackdown on celebrations<\/strong><\/a>, hypocritical <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/sports\/football\/roger-goodell-mishandling-domestic-violence-article-1.2828800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>stance on domestic violence<\/strong><\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/01\/23\/sports\/football\/nfl-ignores-ball-deflation-science-at-new-england-patriots-expense.html?_r=0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\"><strong>Deflategate scandal<\/strong><\/a>. The worst suspect though, is the NFL being completely oblivious to the  fact that fans simply do not consider the game to be \u201cas good as it used to  be\u201d.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"background:#f2f2f2;padding:5px;\">Related: <strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/marvel-and-cocacola-super-bowl-ad\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marvel and Coca-Cola Join Hands for Super Bowl Ad<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h2>8. Samsung<\/h2>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Samsung.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Samsung.png\" alt=\"samsung\" title=\"samsung\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8592\" width=\"600\" height=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Samsung.png 800w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Samsung-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Samsung-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Samsung-400x300.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/samsung-reaction-to-note-7-recall-2016-11\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Disclaimer: Samsung is still  a highly relevant technological brand in the world, a leader in each  competitive category. Unfortunately, when bad news hits home, that\u2019s where it  hits the hardest: a product recall can be a painful dilemma to deal with for any  brand, something Volkswagen is fully aware of.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s where Samsung failed:  vague explanations, slow response time and a complete replacement disaster  coupled with unnecessary delays in the decision making process when it was  finally time to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.india.com\/technology\/after-samsung-galaxy-note-7-samsung-to-recall-samsung-galaxy-s7-over-the-same-blasting-issue-1657287\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\"><strong>kill off the Galaxy Note 7<\/strong><\/a>. Don\u2019t be surprised if this pops up as an MBA case  study someday. Or perhaps, it already has.<\/p>\n<h2>9. Spirit Airlines<\/h2>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Spirit-Airlines.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Spirit-Airlines.png\" alt=\"spirit airlines\" title=\"spirit airlines\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8594\" width=\"600\" height=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Spirit-Airlines.png 800w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Spirit-Airlines-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Spirit-Airlines-768x513.png 768w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Spirit-Airlines-449x300.png 449w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/loyaltylobby.com\/2016\/04\/28\/spirit-airlines-the-worst-airline-in-america-ranked-by-customer-satisfaction\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Airlines in the US have been struggling steadily for over a  decade to win over customers, particularly those with less than stellar  customer service. Some have managed to leave a positive impression on flyers  though Spirit Airlines\u2019 service remains absolutely abysmal to this day.<\/p>\n<p>The company earned an <a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2016\/04\/26\/pf\/best-and-worst-airlines-customer-satisfaction\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\"><strong>ACSI score of just 62<\/strong><\/a>, considered the third-worst score awarded to any airline  company. And with good reason: the airline has taken shortcuts in order to  offer low fares. Some of their \u201cirky\u201d policies include costly refreshments and  unusually high baggage fees which have successfully alienated passengers and  lowered demand.<\/p>\n<p>It is not completely clear if the airline\u2019s bad service and  hidden fees made the case of CEO Ben Baldanza\u2019s exit in January, as he was  often hailed an innovator for making the company\u2019s cost-cutting policies,  during which it was on the rise. Unfortunately, major airlines started to  compete with Spirit Airlines on price and the company could no longer keep up \u2013  it\u2019s shares dropped by 45% over a 12-month period.<\/p>\n<h2>10. BAC \u2013 Bank Of America<\/h2>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BAC-Bank-Of-America.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BAC-Bank-Of-America.png\" alt=\"bac-bank of america\" title=\"bac-bank of america\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8595\" width=\"600\" height=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BAC-Bank-Of-America.png 800w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BAC-Bank-Of-America-300x199.png 300w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BAC-Bank-Of-America-768x510.png 768w, https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/BAC-Bank-Of-America-452x300.png 452w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/shadowproof.com\/2015\/08\/18\/report-cost-of-financial-crisis-reached-20-trillion\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The banking industry was hard hit following the financial  crisis and many Americans are hesitant to trust banks. Among banks that have  fared poorly in the eyes of customers is Bank of America. On average, 1 in  every 4 customer ranks the bank\u2019s customer service as poor; in fact, it was  among the worst in a <a href=\"http:\/\/247wallst.com\/special-report\/2015\/07\/23\/customer-service-hall-of-shame\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\"><strong>2015  Zogby survey<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>BAC received a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.charlotteobserver.com\/news\/business\/banking\/bank-watch-blog\/article114743748.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\"><strong>68 ASCI score last year<\/strong><\/a>, much worse than the banking industry on a whole,  which was 76. Unsurprisingly, the bank\u2019s status as one of the largest companies  in the country, might explain its poor customer perception as many huge  businesses struggle to uphold a positive image since they\u2019re dealing with  several thousand transactions and customers.<\/p>\n<p>However, that is certainly no justification for the bank\u2019s poor  reputation as the financial crisis has had a residual effect while <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/05\/23\/479185867\/bank-of-america-1-2-billion-mortgage-hustle-penalty-thrown-out\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>defective  mortgages<\/strong><\/a> sold by the bank are one of the main culprits behind its negative  public image.<\/p>\n<h2>Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>Do you feel we\u2019ve missed a worthwhile mention on this list?  While this list is certainly not a comprehensive one, these ten contenders  certainly had everyone talking from anxious CEOs and company head honchos to irked  lower level staff, consumers and investors.<\/p>\n<p>Will you continue to buy from these brands struggling to  undo their tarnished reputation? Let us know in the comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As they say, word gets around fast. Today\u2019s almost ubiquitous promulgation of information means brands and large corporations can become the subject of harsh public opinion. Luckily, for some companies, a poor reputation seemingly seems to have very little impact &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[246],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-branding"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>10 Most Hated Brands In 2016 | DesignMantic: The Design Shop<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sometimes, some brands, spark attention for all the wrong reasons. These 10 brands made mistakes so obvious in 2016 that people couldn&#039;t help but hate them.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 Most Hated Brands In 2016 | DesignMantic: The Design Shop\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sometimes, some brands, spark attention for all the wrong reasons. These 10 brands made mistakes so obvious in 2016 that people couldn&#039;t help but hate them.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"DesignMantic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DesignMantic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-29T11:23:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-13T06:17:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Brands-People-Hated-The-Most.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"530\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Evan Brown\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/EvanBrownDM\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@designmantic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Evan Brown\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"10 Most Hated Brands In 2016 | DesignMantic: The Design Shop","description":"Sometimes, some brands, spark attention for all the wrong reasons. These 10 brands made mistakes so obvious in 2016 that people couldn't help but hate them.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"10 Most Hated Brands In 2016 | DesignMantic: The Design Shop","og_description":"Sometimes, some brands, spark attention for all the wrong reasons. These 10 brands made mistakes so obvious in 2016 that people couldn't help but hate them.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/","og_site_name":"DesignMantic","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DesignMantic","article_published_time":"2016-12-29T11:23:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-06-13T06:17:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":530,"url":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Brands-People-Hated-The-Most.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Evan Brown","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/EvanBrownDM","twitter_site":"@designmantic","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Evan Brown","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/"},"author":{"name":"Evan Brown","@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6391d01ed964b5a1184066a18d5bb7f0"},"headline":"10 Brands People Hated The Most In 2016","datePublished":"2016-12-29T11:23:38+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-13T06:17:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/"},"wordCount":1936,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Brands-People-Hated-The-Most.jpg","articleSection":["Branding"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/","url":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/","name":"10 Most Hated Brands In 2016 | DesignMantic: The Design Shop","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Brands-People-Hated-The-Most.jpg","datePublished":"2016-12-29T11:23:38+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-13T06:17:29+00:00","description":"Sometimes, some brands, spark attention for all the wrong reasons. These 10 brands made mistakes so obvious in 2016 that people couldn't help but hate them.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Brands-People-Hated-The-Most.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Brands-People-Hated-The-Most.jpg","width":800,"height":530,"caption":"Brands People Hated The Most"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/10-brands-hated-in-2016\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Branding","item":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/category\/branding\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"10 Brands People Hated The Most In 2016"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/","name":"DesignMantic","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"DesignMantic","url":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/DesignMantic-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/DesignMantic-Logo.png","width":300,"height":58,"caption":"DesignMantic"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DesignMantic","https:\/\/x.com\/designmantic"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6391d01ed964b5a1184066a18d5bb7f0","name":"Evan Brown","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9f661793780701b84d700350db08494bbbc69f4a5a52f3d53abb33f6190085f8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9f661793780701b84d700350db08494bbbc69f4a5a52f3d53abb33f6190085f8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Evan Brown"},"description":"Evan is an Expert in Digital Marketing. He has been working in the social media space since 2008, with a focus on design services, user interface planning, branding and more. Currently, he is leading content marketing efforts at DesignMantic and has played an integral part in the success story of DesignMantic through strategic marketing campaigns. Evan is also a design pro, who has shown a predilection towards DIY design projects.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/EvanBrownDM"],"url":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/author\/evan-brown\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8585"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23386,"href":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8585\/revisions\/23386"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.designmantic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}