10 Brands That Went VIRAL for the WRONG Reasons

Top 10 Brands That Went VIRAL for ALL THE WRONG REASONS

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were counting down our picks for the most problematic missteps taken by companies that made them regret their explosive popularity. These are viral brand controversies that triggered widespread backlash, damaged public trust, and sparked cultural or ethical debates online.

#10: Papa John's

Remember when the Papa John's logo was a picture of its founder, John Schnatter? It was officially changed after Schnatter was exposed for using a racial slur in 2018 during a media training conference call, no less. In 2017, at the height of the NFL protests against racism in the U.S., where players took a knee during the national anthem, Papa John's was going through a slump in sales. John went ahead and blamed the League for it, citing their sponsorship deal with the pizza chain. Safe to say, people were ticked off, and his bigoted language in private was enough to cause furore. He eventually resigned, both as CEO and chairman of Papa John's.

#9: Mattel

The Barbie maker found itself in hot water after a mistake so egregious, you cant help but wonder how it happened. In 2024, Mattel released a special line of dolls based on the characters of Jon M. Chus movie Wicked, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. The toys came in standard packaging, but with a QR code that was wildly inappropriate, especially considering that the items were marketed toward children. Unsuspecting customers scanned the code, hoping to land on the films page, but were redirected to an NSFW site instead. Mattel promptly apologized and halted sales of the dolls, but the damage had been done, both to customers and to the brands reputation.

#8: Astronomer

This software company skyrocketed in notoriety after its CEO, Andy Byron, was spotted on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert all cozied up with the brands human resources executive, Kristin Cabot. The two are each married to other people, resulting in a massive, messy scandal. But aside from the morality of the situation at hand and the repercussions faced by the involved parties, the short clip of the couple blew up online instantly. Folks online have spawned countless memes, have used AI to make parodies of the moment, and even created their own false apologies from Byron & Cabot. Needless to say, this viral moment put Astronomer on many peoples radars, where it may not have been otherwise.

#7: H&M

Anyone who has ever shopped from this retailer knows about its reputation for designing absurd graphic tops. However, no one expected that theyd go as far as to make a Coolest Monkey in the Jungle hoodie and have a Black child model it. This image was seen on the H&M app in the U.K., but also caused an uproar worldwide, including in America and South Africa. Celebrities like G-Eazy and The Weeknd, who had partnerships with H&M, were quick to terminate them. Even NBA legend LeBron James criticized the clothing giant for their lack of oversight. Brand outlets in South Africa had to be closed due to protests by enraged activists. Ultimately, H&M apologized and got rid of the image.

#6: Burger King

The fast food chain found out about the evils of clickbait the hard way. For International Womens Day in 2021, Burger King U.K. made a shocking post on X to draw attention to a noble initiative. Women belong in the kitchen, they wrote, to draw engagement to a thread promoting a culinary school scholarship they were offering to female employees. The spirit was there, but the distasteful execution got the brand canceled. According to Forbes, when the company published the same ad in the New York Times newspaper in the U.S., it wasnt met with much backlash because people didnt have to scroll for an explanation. Either way, Burger King apologized, deleted the offensive post, and hopefully, a lesson was learned.

#5: Facebook

FB has always been controversial, but one of its lowest moments was the Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal. In 2018, a whistleblower alleged that CA had wrongfully collected the personal data of countless Facebook users. This was seemingly done through a survey on the app, This Is Your Digital Life. Facebook reportedly allowed the consulting firm to gather the data of survey takers and their FB friends. The information was apparently used to spread targeted political ads and boost the 2016 presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Facebook was heavily fined, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared before Congress, where he was grilled about the privacy breach. Disillusioned FB users took to X to express their anger, and the hashtag DeleteFacebook went viral.

#4: United Airlines

In 2017, a fully booked United Express flight had to bump four customers to accommodate crew members. When no one volunteered to leave, they seemingly picked random people, forcing them to deplane. Things got out of hand when Vietnamese-American doctor David Dao refused to be removed as he was flying to attend to patients. Security officers got involved, and Dao was violently ejected from his seat. He reportedly sustained injuries to his head, nose, and teeth and was bleeding before being carried out. The ordeal was filmed by fellow passengers, and the brutal footage went viral. Oscar Munoz, who was the CEO of United Airlines at the time, praised his staff for how they handled the matter, but later backtracked and apologized, promising policy changes.

#3: Balenciaga

Designer Demnas stint as the creative director of this luxury brand was marked by controversy. In 2020, he faced plagiarism allegations, which he denied. However, when Balenciaga was accused of running ad campaigns with inappropriate imagery involving minors in 2022, he couldn't avoid the heat. One of these ads seemingly featured children posing with teddy bear-shaped bags that were styled in provocative gear. Another, fronted by Nicole Kidman and Isabelle Huppert, reportedly had disturbing props in the background that intensified the backlash. Demna apologized for his, quote, wrong artistic choice and Balenciaga withdrew the campaigns. However, customers were already outraged, damaging their Balenciaga goods in protest. Even Kim Kardashian spoke out against the campaigns. Thus, the Spanish fashion houses reputation was ruined beyond repair.

#2: Dove

This brands entire identity revolves around changing beauty. So, it is particularly ironic that it has courted one too many controversies for discriminatory content. A 2017 Dove body wash ad shows a black woman with a brown t-shirt removing it to reveal a white woman with a lighter top. She, in turn, transforms into another woman of color in the same way. People immediately took offense at the first transition, claiming it was thoughtless. That same year, Nivea also came under fire for a deodorant ad with the tagline, white is purity (xref 1). Dove previously made another failed attempt at diversity with their Real Beauty shower gel bottles that were supposed to represent different body types but ended up making people feel uncomfortable (xref 2). Whos greenlighting these?

#1: Pepsi

The soda brands infamous Live for Now campaign starring Kendall Jenner is definitely going down in history, but as one of the worst commercials of all time. The ad shows the supermodel promoting world peace by offering a police officer a can of Pepsi while protestors look on in awe. Critics immediately denounced it for using protest culture as an aesthetic. It was also regarded as an attempt to co-opt activist movements like Black Lives Matter. To make things worse, the ad used imagery that was noticeably similar to the iconic moment of Ieshia Evanss arrest during a protest in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which further fueled public outcry. Although both Pepsi and Kendall apologized for the ad, the brand never really recovered from the fallout.

Have you ever boycotted a brand because of its controversies? Tell us in the comments!