Good Week/Bad Week in Branding

Good Week: Perdue – The poultry giant wins praise from animal activists with the announcement that it will adopt plans for more humane treatment of the nearly 700 million chickens it processes each year, including exposing them to more light, increasing their physical activity levels, and, in the end, even killing them less brutally. For those of you old enough to remember the slogan, apparently it no longer takes a tough man to make a tender chicken. (I miss old Frank)

Bad Week: Ikea – The Swedish you-build-it furniture chain recalls 36 million pieces in the U.S. and Canada after six children were killed when dressers and chests toppled over on them. The company maintains that the furniture is safe if properly anchored to a wall with the included hardware.

Worse Week: Honda/Toyota/VW – Bad news all around as faulty airbags force Honda to recall 300,000 vehicles and Toyota to reel back 1.4 million. You know it’s bad when the NHTSA warns owners not to drive their vehicles. And the EPA and FTC force VW to pay an “historic” $15.3B to settle its emissions scandal… on top of the $600M the company will pay to settle with 44 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.