Chicago companies' reputations hold steady in Axios Harris poll
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The reputations of some big Chicago brands held steady in the last year, while many national companies suffered after they rolled back diversity efforts in response to the Trump administration's dismantling of DEI initiatives.
The big picture: Each year, Axios and Harris Poll gauge the reputation of the most visible brands in America, based on 20 years of Harris Poll research.
Zoom in: Two locally based companies that publicly made changes to DEI policies — John Deere and McDonald's — actually ranked higher or about the same as last year.
- John Deere, headquartered in Moline with a Chicago-based office, has a "very good" rating and is No. 11 on the nationwide list, but didn't even rank last year.
- McDonald's "fair" ranking is the same as last year.
- Aldi, based in suburban Batavia, slipped the most since last year, falling from 14 to 32, but still has a "very good" reputation.
- With more than 1,000 Walgreens stores slated to close over the next three years, and customers complaining about products under lock and key, the pharmacy giant slipped from 51 last year to 65 this year.
Reality check: It was the economy rather than politics that factored into respondents' opinions as "consumers criticized businesses for passing along higher costs, delivering poorer perceived quality for their stretched dollars, and even capitalizing on tariffs to pad profit margins," according to Harris.
Zoom out: Most of the biggest decliners nationwide have consistently made headlines for polarizing acts or operational failures, Axios' Eleanor Hawkins reports.
- Elon Musk's Tesla and SpaceX had dramatic declines since Musk started cutting federal offices as part of DOGE, as well as Boeing, whose jets were involved in fatal crashes.
Stunning stat: Tesla was No. 8 in the 2021 reputation ranking and now comes in at 95.
Go deeper: Axios and Harris Poll have been partnering on the poll since 2019.