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Why are big brands suffering a mass consumer exodus?
For the last 70 years, America has been the incubator for some of the world’s most successful and influential global corporations. These early companies were deeply rooted in America and its people.
Companies like Ford made sure their employees could afford their products, notably by doubling the day wage to $5 in 1914, which played a significant role in the establishment of the American middle class.
During the Great Depression many more US companies sacrificed profits to support the public good and some took even more creative measures. Companies like General Mills changed their cloth packaging so it could be repurposed into clothing for low income Americans
Legislators played a significant role as well. While the wartime US government didn’t adopt socialist policies in the traditional sense, its state-directed capitalism closely resembled key elements of democratic socialism.
Policies such as the 50 percent corporate tax rate and 91 percent tax rates on the ultra-wealthy — implemented to fund the war effort — along with strategic partnerships between government and industry, were crucial in mobilizing the nation and ultimately securing the victory in World War II.
It’s also important to note that the first modern global brand, Coca-Cola, was born during this period, largely thanks to US taxpayers via the US Army. The military gave Coca-Cola executives special paid US Army officer commissions. This gave Coke access to military supply chains and resources enabling them to set up bottling plants in every major theater of US military operations. The company was able to establish itself as a global brand because of US taxpayers.
From Ford and Coca-Cola to Johnson & Johnson and Boeing, these companies didn’t just thrive on market demand —they directly benefited from substantial US government investment, infrastructure development, defense spending, and key economic policies, both domestically and internationally, such as the Marshall Plan, especially in the post-WWII era.
However, today, these once-patriotic American brands have all but abandoned any sense of ethical responsibility let alone national obligation to the country that grew them from regional endeavors to global behemoths. These entities are now sadly considered by most Americans to be no more than global charlatans.
Their executives are just as bad, focused almost exclusively on massive wealth accumulation while circumventing their responsibilities as Americans. For example: Elon Musk ($400 billion) has soaked up more government funding and tax breaks than anyone in history, intentionally deceives the public, and stopped paying into Social Security 15 minutes into 2025; Jeff Bezos ($251 billion) systemically abuses Amazon employees and avoided 1 billion in taxes; Mark Zuckerburg ($215 billion) actively promotes disinformation and regularly avoids millions in taxes; and even lesser figures like Jensen Huang ($127 billion) skated on $8 billion in taxes.
Over the last seven decades, conservative estimates put multinational brand lobbying at hundreds of billions of dollars, largely to escape taxes, dodge environmental and labor regulations, and promote offshoring operations.
In most respects the high-quality goods companies once produced have been degraded by corporate greed into harmful or inferior versions of their former selves. They are now only viewed through the lens of a global spreadsheet, reduced to mere profit lines driven by share value.
The trend of consumers abandoning major brands has been growing in recent years, driven by rising awareness of environmental damage, labor exploitation, corporate tax evasion, and other ethical concerns. While the shift toward more responsible consumption has been gradual, in 2024, citizens have increasingly rejected these brands due to their clear lack of corporate accountability, CEO negligence, and, in some cases, outright criminal behavior.
There are countless examples, but here are small samples of harmful product recalls and corporate malfeasance, where no individuals were held accountable and relatively nominal financial penalties were imposed.
