2016's ‘Most Hated’ Brands in UK Announced

While some brands are eternally loved by Brits across the nation, not all companies enjoy the same glowing reputation. In fact, some are downright detested. This year, NGO campaigning intelligence company Sigwatch revealed its internal countdown of the “most hated” brands in the UK, offering new insight into what consumers just can’t stand.

So what companies made the list?

Unsurprisingly, Shell took the crown for the number one most hated brand, a stigma that was largely fuelled by its Artic drilling antics. Next up were BP and Rio Tinto, two fellow oil and gas companies who have created quite the stir with environmentally irresponsible drilling campaigns, oil spills and more.

VW breaks the oil and gas mould

Interestingly, Volkswagen came in at number four on the list of the most hated non-governmental organisations. Its downfall follows the crippling emissions scandal that shook 2015, and completely crushed consumer confidence in the previously loved brand.

Robert Blood, founder and managing of Sigwatch commented that the scandal was to some extent a good thing, in that it forced consumers to address the global issue of green emissions. “Volkswagen is not an oil and gas company. It’s not a company that NGOs want to hate, but in this case they had no choice. It was a big shock for VW as it is a national champion,” he said.

Banks, supermarkets and more

BHP Billiton rung in at number five, with Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays making an appearance as number six and seven. They were two of three banks to make the “most hated” list. Other ‘honourable’ mentions include Glencore, Morrisons, Cuadrilla, ExxonMobil, Tesco, Newmont Mining Corporation, Total S.A, Walmart, F. Hoffmann-La Roche and Amazon. No doubt their respective customer communication and brand image departments will be working around the clock to determine what the problem is, and how they can fix it.

Why all the hatred?

One of the key factors fuelling hatred for oil and gas companies is their relentless pollution of water sources, including the world’s oceans. ‘Modern Hexane-Extractable (Oil & Grease) Analysis of Wastewater Samples’ is centred around n-Hexane-extractable material (HEM), an operationally-defined general measurement used to help assess water pollution across the globe. The technique factors in a variety of hydrocarbons, including dissolved aromatics, benzene, toluene, xylene and dispersed polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), aliphatics, naphthenic and fatty acids. Hexane extractables are currently being used to regulate allowable pollution in the US, using a system called the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).