Just as we’ve all got brands we love and stay loyal to, we’ve probably all got at least one we avoid like the plague. Maybe its customer service is a nightmare, its products are a letdown, or its latest controversy left such a bad taste in your mouth that it no longer deserves a single cent of your money. Some are so bad that the mere mention of their name is enough to make your eye twitch and set off a twenty-minute rant about everything they’ve done wrong.
This list is dedicated to those brands. They might rake in billions of dollars, but according to the people in this eye-opening Reddit thread, the world would be a whole lot better off without them.
#1
Nestlé.
AHeister:
I find it amazing how this is the number one response every time this subject comes up, and yet their profits never diminish.
Edit: I just meant that if it’s such common knowledge, both inside and outside of reddit, that Nestlé is a horrible company, why aren’t more people boycotting them? And yes, I know they’re into a ton of companies, making it hard to avoid them. However, there are responsible companies out there, and you’d think some of them would intentionally target competing products and exploit Nestlé’s bad reputation.
JankyPutin:
The list of Nestle’s problems is seemingly never ending and too lengthy for me to remember all of but the most famous reason is that they were directly the cause of countless infant deaths in third world countries. They had sales reps dress as nurses, offer untrue “education,” gave out free formula, then started charging for clean water and formula. These mothers didn’t know any better, milk supplies had ran dry, and they didn’t have sufficient access to clean water. Nestle, knowing that these women were poor and didn’t have clean water or a way to afford formula never should have done that.
Image source: Fearless_Road_1010, Danique Veldhuis / pexels (not the actual photo)
#2
Ticketmaster. Surprised i haven’t seen it. You’ll try and cross shop tickets just to realize they always redirect you to ticket master where you’re gonna pay a huge amount in convenience fees. Buying 2 tickets you’re pretty much paying for 3.
Crutation:
Not only that, but they also own a ticket resale company, and set blocks of tickets aside for resale, at marked up prices. They also negotiated with ticket brokers to sell certain tickets to them before public availability. There was a Rolling Stone article I read several years ago detailing all their shenanigans.
Also don’t forget that Livenation owns Ticketmaster as well as concert venues, so they basically have a monopoly on live concert tours.
Image source: pettyhonor, appshunter.io / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#3
All the Kardashian ones.
KMKO926:
People act like if we stop talking about the Kardashians, they will go away. But we need to stop purchasing their trash products. You vote with your dollar.
Image source: datnodude, Hulu / YouTube
Of course, not everyone cares whether a brand is ethical. Some people just want good products at a reasonable price. A 2026 Ipsos report, The Edge Brands Are Missing, found that this described just over a third of Brits (37%). But for others, what a brand stands for, how it treats its people, and whether its actions align with their own values all matter, too.
#4
Pearson, and any other educational textbook publishing/distribution company.
savetheunstable:
They destroyed the GED program.
SInce Pearson bought control of the GED test, there has been a staggering collapse in the number of students who passed it and won a high school diploma. Pearson raised the cost of taking it and made it harder by aligning it with the Common Core. Before Pearson took over, about half a million students took the GED, and most passed.
-oxym0ron-:
After Pearson took control, passing rates dropped by a stunning 90%
“The city Department of Education touts its $47 million-a-year adult-education program as the biggest in the state and second-biggest nationwide, but last school year it awarded just 299 high-school equivalency diplomas, The Post has learned.
What the hell.
Image source: a_w_i, Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#5
They may call themselves “Xfinity” but I know they asses are Comcast. F**k Comcast.
BlueOmicronpersei8:
Everyone hates us, should we change our business model and stop being pieces of trash?
No let’s just change the name and hope no one notices.
fubo:
The cable TV business model is infrastructure-based political corruption. Cable TV was built out as deliberate regional monopolies. Unlike the phone company, they didn’t have to let anyone else use their lines. (Leased-line service was essential to the development of retail Internet service.) And they’re free to lobby aggressively against anyone ever being permitted to compete against them.
Cable Internet companies suck because they are cable TV companies, which are the very exemplar of entrenched monopoly privilege. They’re essentially tax farmers.
Image source: argus_orthanx, Dar ius / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#6
Herbalife. Specifically those Herbalife ‘Nutrition’ Drink shops.
Jack0Corvus:
My parents bought into that bull and I spent 9 years having “breakfast” of weirdly tasting trash that lasts all of 15min before I’m hungry again
Zuwxiv:
I actually started getting them regularly when I thought there was just a nearby smoothie store on the way to work. It’s healthy, they said. You’ll lose weight, they said.
It actually was pretty tasty, probably because they loaded it with peanut butter or something. And I did lose weight on it for a bit… although that was because:
I was replacing bigger meals with this trash and then going hungry.
Speaking of s**t, it gives you pretty violent diarrhea.
I figured out the connection pretty quickly. I mean, technically… you’ll lose weight. But I wouldn’t recommend it.
Image source: fauxshoah, Maryam Sicard / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
And that can make a difference to a company’s bottom line. According to the same report, 78% of Brits are deeply committed to at least one cause, and brands that authentically connect with the issues people genuinely care about can reap rewards. Ipsos estimates that these associations account for 21% of a brand’s advantage in consumer advocacy and 8% of its price premium.
#7
Anyone who makes college textbooks for outrageous prices.
RedLionhead:
I’ve had US text books in Europe. they have a special edition that “is not for sale in Canada and US”… Because they don’t permit that bull predator practice
Image source: AkwardTimeToLaugh, Aaron Burden / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#8
Purdue Pharma.
n0ahhhhh:
Highly recommend the book Empire of Pain, which tells the story of the Sackler family and the origin of the opioid epidemic in America. Insane history behind the pharmaceutical industry, with a heavy focus on Purdue Pharma.
TheDreamingMyriad:
It is absolutely sickening the size of their role in the opioid epidemic. They are literally responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, all for that sweet $$$$. There is a documentary on Netflix that goes over some of their involvement and their marketing of oxycontin called “The Pharmacist”.
Even that limited coverage of their actions made me sick. They knew their s**t was a****tive, dangerous, and hurting/k***ing people but they truly did not care as long as they made money.
Image source: bakehaus, Jess Loiterton / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#9
Any software company that has moved completely to subscriptions models vs offering a perpetual license or even a 1-3yr license.
velorra:
I see this so much on the apple app store and it pisses me right off. I find a neat app that I expect to pay like $20 for full access, but they only offer a weekly or monthly subscription. Nope no thanks you can f**k right off.
Reminder: check your apple subscriptions and make sure auto-renew is off for apps you may have forgot about!
Image source: morilythari, Luca Sammarco / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Put simply, when consumers feel a brand shares their values, they’re more likely to recommend its products and even pay more for them. As the report puts it, “It’s the win-win that every brand should be striving for.”
#10
AT&T can f**k off once for each random a*s incremental charge.
chickpea69420:
AT&T was scamming my moms account. she asked for a breakdown on her monthly charges, and she saw she was paying an extra $25 a month.
we went down to the AT&T store and asked a lady working there what that extra $25 a month was for. she started saying it was for a Series 7 Apple Watch, and it was also a cellular plan for it. i stepped in and said that was a BS charge, and she retorted with claiming it was for the apple watch i was wearing (a series 5 with no cellular capabilities). i told her that that would be impossible, and we finally got her to take that off our plan. we paid over $500 over the months for something we never had, and never got a refund either.
Image source: Emmjacob, Joshua Brown / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#11
Goop.
Wikipedia:
Goop is a wellness and lifestyle brand and company founded by American actress Gwyneth Paltrow. It was launched in September 2008 as a weekly e-mail newsletter providing New Age advice, such as “police your thoughts” and “eliminate white foods”, and the slogan “Nourish the Inner Aspect”. Goop later expanded into e-commerce, collaborating with fashion brands, hosting pop-up shops, holding a “wellness summit”, and launching a print magazine, podcast, and docuseries on Netflix.
Goop has faced criticism for marketing products and treatments that are harmful, described as “snake oil”, based on pseudoscience, and lack efficacy. California officials from the Consumer Protection Office have sued Goop for false advertising, asserting that Goop has made unfounded health claims about a variety of products. Goop settled the lawsuit out of court. Class-action lawsuits have been brought against Goop for unsafe products.
Image source: Spitzunee, Netflix / YouTube
#12
Whatever brand makes McDonald’s milk shake machines.
GetawayDriverTyrone:
I stumbled across a YouTube documentary about this. One company makes and services all of the ice cream machines for McDonald’s. And the error codes and programming they have built into it are specifically designed to where they are the only ones that can service the machines and the employees of that restaurant cannot. I believe there is a lawsuit pending against them for this.
Image source: ShurlGurl, Darya Sannikova / Pexels (not the actual photo)
But what happens when a company’s actions clash with those values? Whether people object to a brand’s political stance, its treatment of workers, or its environmental record, some are willing to take their money elsewhere. As Anna Francesca Macesar writes, shoppers are increasingly paying attention to more than just the products they buy.
#13
DuPont. Those jerks poisoned the whole darn world with Teflon.
MafiaMommaBruno:
And it’s literally in everything. I got my 75 year old mom invested in learning about products she uses and she threw out a few things and her air-fryer. She’s getting away from it. Thankfully, she still has a lot of things she had from when she was a lot younger.
Probably need to test them for lead but no Teflon, at least!
Image source: Supadrumma4411, Théo Cold / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#14
SHEIN needs to f**k off.
Maxxellion:
Aside from contributing an ungodly amount to “fast fashion” with clothes that are designed to break down quickly, they steal from artists regularly, make clothing that is harmful, and use forced labour to do it.
Not so much what they did, but who they are. It’s their whole identity.
Image source: West-Kick4368, V H / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#15
Meta.
[deleted]:
Zuck spent billions of dollars making Great Value Nintendo Wii avatars that no one will ever use.
[deleted]:
he’s spent billions of dollars so far
dude is genuinely convinced that he can make a version of VRchat that the bulk of the lower & middle class populace will actually want to use. despite the fact that VR has been around for years and has never caught on beyond enthusiasts. Even most gamers don’t feel particularly drawn to VR, and gaming has been the sole market in which VR has seen any success. so where is this imaginary demand coming from?
the fact that he thinks that average office workers will use VR headsets for video conferencing is proof as to how out of touch silicon valley is with the rest of the world. the only offices that will use such a stupid gimmick are other over-funded high margin tech firms with cash to burn. also…imagine doing an honest blood pumping workout with that big awkward band around your head sealing the steam in and absorbing a slick coating of sweat. nasty AF
his delusion is laughable and it’s been great to see him burn “meta”’s ill gotten gains on it. I do give him props for the great PR stunt of renaming his s**tty company to stop it from drowning in an ocean of scandals. sadly he now has to maintain the charade and set billions alight on a product with no demand. keep it up, mark!
Image source: aksullivan, Julio Lopez / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
“If a brand claims to be sustainable but engages in unfair labour practices or has questionable leadership, the backlash can be swift and unforgiving,” she explains, adding that social media can turn a single misstep into a “viral #Boycott[YourBrandHere] in no time.”
#16
Walmart takes so much welfare they are a de-facto state run business.
CyptidProductions:
They also completely screwed over large swaths of the heartland in the wake of the recession by driving all the other stores out of business with shady practices like undercutting by abusing volume sales over per-item margins strategies. Those son of a b****es are the reason our retail sectors are so desolate out here and smaller towns that were booming in the 90s/2000s are now in decay.
Many locations also went to s**t the minute they no longer had to compete with anybody. Mine hasn’t done a good job keeping up with ordering food they’re out of since the mid-2010s
immune2iocaine:
You left out a significant criticism! They also negotiated tax breaks for the first handful of years they were in business in those smaller towns, giving the impression the increased tax revenue created after the breaks expired would ultimately end up net positive for the townships they were moving into.
So they’d not only move into an area and run smaller businesses out of town, they’d do it while paying reduced or zero local taxes. Then the abatements expired and suddenly they “needed to expand” and, “oh, that lot just outside the township looks especially appealing”.
Local area generates little to no revenue from them, loses revenue from existing businesses, and residents are inconvenienced further by now needing to commute further to buy necessities from what’s become the remaining option.
Now, there’s certainly some blame on the part of the local leaders who wrote tax abatements that didn’t require them to stay for a period of time past the abatement expiring, but I’m aware too that it may just be a decade or two of hindsight and witnessing how they operate that lets me say “they should have known better”. It’s also possible those things could be coincidence, that they really did need to move and it just happened to line up roughly the same time as the breaks expired, but between their other predatory tactics and the fact that I’ve heard of that happening in at least two entirely different parts of the country, it’s hard to believe it’s anything other than a ruthless lack of ethics.
Image source: dudesBangMyMom, KDavid Montero / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#17
DeBeers. One of the main exploiters of West Africa in recent memory, a near monopoly on diamonds jacking up prices, insists that you must buy your loved one a real diamond from them and not a cheaper synthetic one in order to prove that love.
Image source: Flodo_McFloodiloo, The Glorious Studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#18
PG&E. They have f****d over so many Northern Californians between faulty equipment starting fires to working with Gavin Newsom to make the consumer pay for their damages. They suck so much John Oliver made a Last Week Tonight about them. Breweries in NorCal even started making beer called PG&E S***s.
Image source: gregthetaco, Robert So / Pexels (not the actual photo)
And these boycotts aren’t just hypothetical. An April 2025 Ipsos Data Drop found that one in four Americans had reduced or stopped buying from a company in the past month because of politics or current events. Of course, deciding to boycott a brand and actually managing to follow through aren’t always the same thing.
#19
Mary Kay.
And all other pyramid schemes that sell themselves as self-employment. F**k off with a sandpaper c****m, and that does double for the folks that started as victims and then rope in others to save themselves.
Image source: Exciting_Pop_1252, Mixshot Marcin Lampart / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#20
Any and all MLMs
I had to carpool for hundreds of hours with someone who was deep into the amway cult. I should be given a prize for not m**dering them during one of their many failed pitches to try and get me to lose all my money with em.
I honestly was very good friends with the couple before they joined amway. But it completely changed them as people, they became delusional. Like, they were sinking all their money into amway.
How did they lose money? Amway high ups would like when a members store had good sales, so they encourage members to spend their own money at their own store. Basically creating high volume long term customers. They also required members to go to giant amway rallys all around the country, like, once a month cost for travel/hotel/meals will drain a person on an average income. They also discourage people from saving money, buying things on sale, denying themselves things, any attempts to save money, because doing that is living a “poor person’s mindset” and will only keep you poor.
They also pushed “fake it till you make it” encouraging people to buy expensive clothes and vehicles to put on the appearance of wealth to impress people and enact some “wish it and it will happen” spiritualism. This “wish-it” delusion would monopolize their conversions. They would be scrolling on a “buy an island” website and talk about how they would customize their island WHEN (not if) they got rich. They would be talking about buying million dollar yhats when they couldn’t even make rent.
Like, the couple went from my best friends to obsessed materialistic delusional pricks over 4 years.
Last I checked they were living in the basement of one of their parents, the guy was literally selling d***s to support his amway habit, and they still thought they were just months away from striking it rich.
Image source: _PM_ME_NIPPLES_ONLY_, Ann H / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#21
Any brand that puts 6+ second long unskippable ads at the start of YouTube videos
Or companies that sponsor mass amounts of YouTubers to promote s****y a*s mobile games riddled with Micro transactions.
Image source: a-very-angry-crow, Viralyft / Pexels (not the actual photo)
According to an earlier Ipsos Consumer Tracker report, 74% of those who had boycotted a company said they’d successfully reduced or stopped spending on it and stuck to their decision. But changing familiar purchasing habits can be difficult. Some 51% said breaking their usual patterns was challenging, while 30% couldn’t find a suitable alternative and 27% couldn’t afford one. Meanwhile, 68% said they were cutting back on the company they were boycotting and offsetting it by spending more at places that better reflected their values.
#22
Kars4Kids.
I’d rather be stuck in ‘It’s a Small World’ at Disneyland all day than have to listen to the Kars4Kids song again.
Image source: redtopquark1, Artem Podrez / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#23
Coors. They own the water rights in my county, and basically anything upstream from their brewery. I have a well and I can’t even water my own f*****g garden with it, because coors. Only allowed 2 rain collection barrels, rest goes to coors.
Image source: Smallios, Daniel Dan
#24
I sadly can’t remember what it was, but I’m sure that it was a brand of hotdogs.
Years ago, I was trying to watch a live Esports tournament (league of legends), but this stupid 5 second ad for said brand kept replaying itself on loop infinitely, which made it impossible for me to watch the God d**n game.
I think it’s the only brand that I had ever had a vendetta for. Maybe it’s best that I forgot it.
Image source: Animegx43, Anete Lusina / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Still, the willingness to change our spending habits sends a message. As Ipsos noted, the growing tendency for consumers to favor brands that reflect their values, even when doing so is difficult, should give companies reason to pause and listen to their customers. “After all,” as Macesar writes, “a boycott isn’t just bad press. It’s a loud statement that people expect better.”
#25
Caremark, Express Scripts, OptumRX, Aetna, Medco…etc!!!!
Basically all Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM’s) can f**k off!
Image source: rxFMS, World Sikh Organization of Canada / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#26
Juul.
BigBoiNoa:
“Why inhale Juuls when you can wear Juul too? Check out our new line of backpacks and each one comes with a free Juul device”
[deleted]:
My conspiracy theory is that Juul designed their products to be easily concealable and unnoticeable so that teens could easily sneak them around and not get caught, like with cigarettes.
Image source: Disastrous-Concept-8, cottonbro studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#27
Carhartt Unfortunately.
I didn’t mind spending $80 on a quality hoodie that would last when it was made in America. Now they’re made in Honduras or Mexico but it’s still the same price? They even stopped using the quality American Japanese XYZKKY brand zippers. I have a duck jacket that still has years to go on it that the cheap a*s zipper fell apart. Hope the corporate morons are happy winning short term profits over life long costumers. Might as well buy Dickies for half the price and same level of quality.
Image source: URAPNS, Ali Kazal / Pexels (not the actual photo)
And that brings us back to this list. These are brands that some consumers clearly feel have fallen way short. Let us know which ones you think deserve their comeuppance and whether there are any others you think just need. to. do. better.
#28
Cosmetic companies that test their products on animals.
Image source: MrBillyLotion, Natalia Vol / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#29
Amazon
The way Lex Luther runs that company is inhumane and heartless. Sure Prime is convenient, but I always feel like a piece of s**t for using it.
Image source: SudoPuff, Christian Wiediger / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#30
Minute Maid… they have the audacity to claim their drinks are healthy and made with your (the consumer) happiness as a priority. Their first ingredient is water.. then high fructose corn syrup.
Image source: SupaSnipaX, Amazon
#31
Monsanto.
Literally committing ecological disasters one after another. Completely destroying different types of crop seeds to create monocultures and keeping farmers broke.
Image source: SaltNebula1576
#32
As much as I like Apple they can go f**k right off
– Can’t replace the battery w/out spending like $500
– Entire dumb thing made of glass which always breaks
– Continually caught infringing on privacy
– Continually caught promoting political agendas. Like just build a fn phone
– Face ID with no option of finger print
– And most of all……NO NUMBER BAR ON KEYBOARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
– Edit: almost forgot, obsolete after like 3-4 years. Like thanks for the $1.2k phone that won’t last 3 years.
Image source: darkmauveshore
#33
BMW. Opening the doors for micro transactions for basic car feature functionality must earn you a special place in hell.
Image source: iretrate
#34
Hilton. They charged me $75/day for incidentals when I prepaid the whole stay. And didn’t refund them. I stayed for a week. Never ordered any services and 4 years later still never got a refund.
Image source: Queenunderthehill
#35
Facebook and TikTok.
Image source: HeaviestMetal89
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