In this era of hyper-polarized politics, pity the poor brands that are increasingly getting caught in the middle. A new report from research firm Morning Consult culls data from more than 300,000 surveys in the United States to rank the most polarizing brands in the country. Not surprisingly, the lists of brands despised by Republicans, Independents, and Democrats all look very different.
The NFL topped the list of disliked brands among Republicans, with a 49% unfavorable rating. This is perhaps not surprising given that Morning Consult used a data set that began in October, just as the national anthem player protests were hitting their stride. In fact, the NFL’s unfavorable rating tops President Trump’s own favorite punching bag–“fake news” CNN–which had an unfavorable rating of 48% among Republicans. Capping off the top five most-unfavorable brands for the GOP are Diet Pepsi, MSNBC, and Diet Mountain Dew.
Among Democrats, the worst brand in the world is apparently Trump Hotels, with a 55% unfavorable rating. Next on the list–no surprise–is Fox News, with 43%. Diet Pepsi, Diet Mountain Dew, and Red Bull topped off the list of brands the Dems love to hate.
Weirdly, Diet Pepsi and Diet Mountain Dew are ranked very unfavorable across the political spectrum, so anyone who says Americans can’t find common ground anymore clearly hasn’t spent enough time hanging around the soda aisle.
Check out the full report here.
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