Consumer Brands Lose Their Edge as Conglomerates and Shareholder Activism Rise

Keyana Sapp, a 31-year-old shopper, discovered that many familiar outdoor and apparel labels—North Face, JanSport, Eastpak—are now owned by VF Corporation after a wave of acquisitions in the 2000s. “It seems like that was a story that just repeated in every industry,” — Customer Satisfaction Index. Sapp

The Guardian

The shift toward large-scale ownership has been accompanied by intensified activist-investor campaigns. Corporate profits reached an annualized $3.9 trillion in the first quarter of 2025, the highest on record.

The Guardian

In response, Sapp created the “Worse on Purpose” database, rating brands from “approved” to “avoid” based on ownership and quality signals. Progressive nonprofit More Perfect Union has documented food-quality declines linked to Sysco’s acquisition spree, while the Buy’r blog and app trace ownership across food, health, and beauty categories. The New York Times’ Wirecutter recently mapped ingredient changes in Talenti gelato after its 2012 Unilever takeover. Reddit’s “Enshittification” community, named after Cory Doctorow’s term for internet decline, serves as a clearinghouse for consumer complaints.

The Guardian

• Quality complaints: Three-quarters of Americans reported a quality or service issue in 2025, double the rate since the National Consumer Rage Study began in 1976.

The Guardian

• Customer satisfaction: Record-high complaints were logged by the University of Michigan American Customer Satisfaction Index.

The Guardian

• Shareholder activism: Campaigns targeting CEOs have risen more than fourfold since 2018 (Conference Board, Dec 2025).

The Guardian

• Corporate profits: $3.9 trillion annualized in Q1 2025, the highest level recorded.

The Guardian

These trends suggest a structural tension between profit-maximizing ownership models and the expectations of a consumer base that once equated national brands with reliable quality.

The Guardian