Brands bounce back after scandal

Catch up quick: Major brands like Volkswagen, Wells Fargo, Adidas, Tesla and Disney have faced a slew of lawsuits, fines or bad headlines following recent corporate scandals.

• Volkswagen was caught cheating U.S. emissions testing in 2015 and was forced to recall half a million cars and pay roughly $15 billion in settlement fees.
• Its reputation was at an all-time low in 2016 — ranking dead last on the list — but the German automaker has since bounced back as one of the top gainers with regards to business trajectory, vision and products and services.
• Wells Fargo Bank came under fire in 2016 after employees were caught creating fraudulent bank accounts on behalf of their customers. The bank was fined $3 billion.
• In 2017, Wells Fargo ranked second to last in brand reputation. Since then, the bank has seen a slow but steady increase in its reputation due to vision, culture and business trajectory — but coming in at No. 88, it still has a long way to go.
• Adidas' reputation saw a dip in citizenship and ethics scores, which could be due to the brand's slow response to ending its partnership with Ye, formerly Kanye West, following his antisemitic remarks last year.
• Yes, but: After a reported loss of $540 million, the apparel brand is selling off the remaining Yeezy merchandise and donating proceeds to the Anti-Defamation League.

Zoom out: Two visible brands that haven't fared as well are Tesla and The Walt Disney Company.

• Tesla's reputation tumbled 50 spots in just a year — from 12th to 62nd — and saw the biggest declines in the categories of character, trust, culture and ethics.
• The automaker has also faced a string of recalls and fines in recent years.
• As Axios' Ryan Heath points out, Tesla shareholders have grown weary over Elon Musk's "manic leadership style" highlighted in his chaotic takeover of Twitter — which also ranks very low at No. 97.

• Disney's reputation has been in free fall since 2014, dropping from its peak at No. 5 in 2019 to No. 77 this year.
• The company is ranked the fifth most polarizing brand of 100 — no doubt due in part to its ongoing political entanglements with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
• "The average gap between Republicans and Democrats in this year's survey was 4.4. In Disney's case, it was 19.3. While Disney's reputation score has been declining since the 2017 survey, that trend had been bipartisan — until this year," write Axios' Sara Fischer and Margaret Talev.

By the numbers: American consumers have come to expect scandal, but they are looking for sincerity, consistency and action-driven messaging as part of the cleanup.

• 77% of Americans believe most corporate apologies are insincere and 7-in-10 say companies rarely change their ways when caught in controversy, a sentiment that stands across gender, age and political leaning.
• American consumers are most likely to forgive brands that provided poor service (50%), partnered with a controversial figure (44%), virtue signaled (42%) and ran insensitive ad campaigns (42%).
• Zoom in: Gen Z and millennials’ tend to be more forgiving than boomers+, while men's opinions typically recover faster than women's according to survey.

Between the lines: Consumers report being less forgiving of businesses that have poor product performance (39%), pollute the environment (38%), and commit unethical business practices (35%).

• Even so, Volkswagen and Wells Fargo — culprits of polluting and unethical business practices — have recovered.
• This bodes well for Disney, Adidas and Bud Light — brands that have recently come under fire for virtue signaling, partnering with questionable figures or running controversial marketing campaigns.

Methodology: The survey is based on interviews with 16,310 U.S. adults conducted March 13-28, 2023.

Go deeper ... The complete Axios Harris Poll 100 reputation rankings.