Consumer goods declining in quality as conglomerates prioritize profits over standards
A wave of corporate consolidation and shareholder pressure is eroding the quality of once-trusted brands, data shows.
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Summary, timeline and people extracted by Claude from 2 items across 2 sources · 13h ago. Quotes are verbatim.
A Guardian investigation documents how major conglomerates and private equity firms are acquiring iconic consumer brands and degrading their quality to maximize profits. Keyana Sapp, who discovered that North Face, JanSport, and Eastpak are all owned by VF Corporation, built a database ranking hundreds of brands by quality and corporate ownership. Three-quarters of Americans experienced quality or service issues in 2025—double the rate from 1976—as activist shareholders pressure executives to increase returns at the expense of product durability.
- Consumer quality degradation is systematic: 75% of Americans experienced quality or service issues in 2025, double the 1976 baseline, across backpacks, cookware, shoes, and tools.
- Corporate consolidation is the structural driver—founders sell to conglomerates or private equity that prioritize profit extraction over the emotional investment in product quality.
- Shareholder activism has quadrupled since 2018, creating immense pressure on executives to cut costs and maximize returns; Q1 2025 corporate profits reached $3.9 trillion all-time high.
- Distance between corporate headquarters and manufacturing, combined with lack of founder accountability, directly erodes quality standards and customer trust.
How it unfolded
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Report Guardian publishes investigation on product quality decline
The Guardian publishes a major investigation exploring why consumer goods from once-trusted brands are deteriorating in quality, citing examples of zipper failures and cookware cracking prematurely.
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Reaction Story circulates across social platforms
The Guardian investigation is shared on Bluesky, Mastodon, Hacker News, and Reddit, reaching audiences across platforms on August 10, 2026.
“It seems like that was a story that just repeated in every industry”
Keyana Sapp · Press ↗ - 32 weeks quiet
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Event Keyana Sapp discovers brand consolidation pattern
Keyana Sapp, 31, notices that backpack brands from his childhood (North Face, JanSport, Eastpak) are all owned by VF Corporation following acquisitions in the 2000s. His Reddit post about the discovery gains traction.
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Event Sapp launches Worse on Purpose database
Sapp channels his frustration into building a database of hundreds of brands, ranking them from 'approved' to 'avoid' based on corporate ownership and explaining the financial transactions that undercut product quality.
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Report Corporate profits reach all-time high
US corporate profits hit an all-time high of $3.9 trillion on an annualized basis in Q1 2025, even as consumer satisfaction declines.
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Report Shareholder activism campaigns surge since 2018
A Conference Board report finds shareholder activism targeting CEOs has quadrupled since 2018, with consumer-facing industries seeing particularly large spikes in campaigns focused on investor returns.
- 48 weeks quiet
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Report National Consumer Rage Study documents quality issues
Three-quarters of Americans report a quality or service issue in 2025—double the rate since the survey began in 1976. University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index shows customer complaints at record levels.
What people are saying verbatim
“It seems like that was a story that just repeated in every industry”
Keyana Sapp, Consumer researcher, Worse on Purpose creator · The Guardian ↗ · Aug 9
“Big conglomerates and private equity were buying up 'trusted brands and riding that reputation out until it was a husk of what it was'”
Keyana Sapp, Consumer researcher, Worse on Purpose creator · The Guardian ↗ · Aug 9
“When you're running everything from an office building that has no relation to where the product is manufactured and people who are doing the manufacturing, quality is going to suffer”
Keyana Sapp, Consumer researcher, Worse on Purpose creator · The Guardian ↗ · Aug 9
“That increased shareholder power can contribute to consumer harm”
Dorothy Lund, Columbia University law professor · The Guardian ↗ · Aug 9
“Many company executives face what feels like 'gun-to-the-head pressure to maximize shareholder returns', or be fired”
Dorothy Lund, Columbia University law professor · The Guardian ↗ · Aug 9
“I don't believe in this idea that you take a sliver off the loaf of baloney and nobody realizes it … and then the next year you take another sliver off, nobody realizes it”
Ben & Jerry's co-founder, Brand founder · The Guardian ↗ · Aug 9