2025: The Year of Brand Betrayal

Too often we talk about the brands that succeed. The ones with the best campaigns. The ones with the best logo redesign. The ones that win the awards. Anytime we talk about brands that fail, the tone becomes similar to Jaguar or even…is Cracker Barrel in the room with us?

Branding faux paxs like those happen every year, and we jump on those quick takes like jackals on a carcass. However, in the year of our Lord, 2025, I’ve never seen so many back-to-back examples in which brands have undeniably failed their consumers; not with a redesign, not with a campaign gone wrong, but with behaviors that signify complete 180’s from their values.

As I’m writing this, it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, and I’m already attacking this like it’s a full-on, end-of-year-retrospective. However, I feel like this year has just been chock-full of these unfortunate examples that it felt like a missed opportunity NOT to explore this. We’ve seen a government and economy go completely off the rails within a matter of months, and with that, we’ve seen more FAANG companies and Fortune 500 brands acquiesce to the madness, and yes, cruelty. In response, we’ve seen nation-wide campaigns calling for complete boycotts of these brands, and for some of them, it has resulted in damaged brand image and even significant losses in sales (more on that later).

The “B” Word

So let’s call the actions of some of these big brands what it really is: betrayal.

Sounds heavy and emotional, right? Well, it’s because it is.

While brands generally try to ensure their perception leads to better consumer engagement and connections, brand betrayal (yes, it’s a term) happens when the actions or behaviors of a brand fracture or destroy the consumer connection.

Keep in mind, this is NOT your local Karen blasting some poor Starbucks barista over their order not being right. This is…

• A clothing brand profiting off of child labor.

• A jewelry store selling jewelry made with blood diamonds.

• A vegan food brand using eggs, dairy, or other animal-based ingredients.

• A non-profit organization partnering with entities that harm the communities they serve.

When you brush aside all of the marketing and business-speak, brands are inherently human-centered. In the same way you’d expect better behavior from a loved one or a friend, consumers expect brands to show up in a genuine, transparent way—70%-82% of consumers to be exact. Additionally, 75% of consumers will actively stop buying from brands that don’t reflect their values.

A brand may be the best in the market for its products or services, but don’t think for a second that it will excuse actions that are contrary to consumers’ needs and values. Even if the drop-off isn’t immediate, the damage from loss of business can be incremental. After all, Rome wasn’t built (or destroyed) in a day, right?

So now that we’ve got all that out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the shining examples of brand betrayal from this year.

Home Depot

When it comes to brands that seem to be for just about anybody, you can’t get past Home Depot. Founded in 1978, the company was founded with the vision of becoming the one-stop-shop home improvement store for the DIY’er. However, since this past summer, Home Depot locations across the country have been prime areas for ICE raids, with heavily-armed federal agents arresting people perceived to be immigrants with excessive force and without due process.

While Home Depot has denied involvement with the raids, their responses have been heavily criticized by consumers and immigrants rights organizations, as Home Depot had also rolled back DEI initiatives earlier in the year. 

For a brand that was once regarded as “America’s Most Trusted Brand,” public perception of Home Depot has continued to decline. As a result, numerous boycotts against Home Depot have been going on since July. With the oncoming holiday season just around the corner, the nation-wide “We Ain’t Buying It” campaign has been calling on consumers to boycott Home Depot in favor of local, independent businesses.

Target

You’ve probably seen Target mentioned in some of our past articles, so here it is again! 

Since its start in 2000 (though originally founded in 1962 as the Dayton-Hudson Corporation), Target created an image and perception of a retail experience for everyone. With their modern, youthful aesthetic and fun messaging, their presence in small towns and cities across the country scaled dramatically. Target’s reputation hasn’t been immaculate, particularly after a heavily-criticized shutdown of Pride Month partnerships with LGBTQIA+ creators. However, the popular retailer declared it was going to roll back its DEI initiatives in January of this year; initiatives which were put in place after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The public backlash was felt immediately, with Black and Hispanic communities immediately leading the charge with a Target boycott that has been going on since. As a result, Target’s stock has plummeted dramatically. Despite numerous PR efforts to repair their image, then-CEO Brian Cornell stepped down after an embattled several months in the press, including a reported sales loss of $12 billion during that time. With Target being another brand on the “We Ain’t Buying It” boycott, it’s safe to say that the public hasn’t forgotten.

Spotify

As someone who used to buy albums on CD and ITunes, I still remember when I first discovered Spotify back in design school. Founded in 2006, Spotify not only became a “disruptor” brand within the music industry, but it redefined how we listened to music all-together. With a seemingly endless library of music and podcasts from artists/creators across the globe, Spotify made streaming music the way of the world.

While Spotify’s brand growth skyrocketed throughout the 2010’s, issues surrounding proper compensation for artists and bands were always prevalent. However, with the airing of ICE recruitment advertisements, AI generated bands, and the CEO’s investments in weapons technology, several Spotify boycotts have resulted in a decreased stock value and artists leaving the platform for competitors like Tidal Music.

Be Responsible, Be Human.

There are more brands that could be listed here, such as Starbucks not negotiating fair terms with worker unions, or Amazon for literally a number of reasons, but to close this out I’ll say this:

The best way to cheapen a brand is to stand for something and (continuously) do the opposite.

Companies screw up like people all the time, and as such, they’re responsible for resolving mistakes as they happen. However, brands acting against their core values can truly have moderate-to-lasting implications on their image and bottom line. Now, more than ever, consumers are ready to drop brands they deem problematic like a bad habit, as they should.

And on both a personal and professional note, brands that say they’re for everyone, but stay silent in the face of horrifying acts of fascism, deserve to lose them in the first place.