Although actors and actresses garner endless media coverage — and spend a lot of time telling all of us how they feel about President Trump — Americans don’t trust them.
According to a poll released by Morning Consult, just 4% of Americans trust Hollywood. That’s lower than the number that trust Wall Street (5%) and the U.S. government (7%).
The news media comes in at a dismal 8%.
The nationwide survey found that the most trusted brands in America are: the United States Postal Service; Amazon, Google, PayPal, The Weather Channel, Chick-fil-A, Hershey, UPS, Cheerios, and M&Ms. It is, however, a contest of mediocrity, as no brands were found to be particularly trustworthy, with these 10 brands garnering stamps of approval from just 34-42% of Americans.
But even above those are “your primary doctor” (50%) and the U.S. military (44%).
Americans also believe “extreme weather warnings (36%) and “teachers” (35%).
Shockingly (at least to the news media), Trump comes in at 20% on trustability.
“Gen Zers are entirely not drinking the Kool-Aid. The survey found them to be distrustful of all things capitalist: corporate America, brands, and companies. They are also conscious of corporate behavior and likely to not purchase from a reliable company that they feel is run unethically,” Fast Company reported. “This is a stark contrast from the nearly two-thirds of baby boomers who trust most companies as their default position; half support reliable companies regardless of ethics.”
Just 15% of Americans believe that religious leaders will do the right thing, though.
Comedian Ricky Gervais nailed exactly how the world feels about Hollywood in his recent appearance on the Golden Globes.
“If you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a political platform to make a political speech,” he told the crowd of limousine liberals, always eager to decry climate change as they jet around the world and tan on gas-guzzling super yachts. “You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything, you know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg. So, if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent and your God — and f*ck off. OK?” Gervais said.
Survey respondents were asked “How much do you trust each brand to do what is right?” They could respond a lot, some, not much, not at all, or don’t know. This ranking is determined by share of “a lot” responses. For example, 42.7 percent (ranked #1) of Gen Z consumers trust Google a lot. 44.2% (ranked #1) of Millenials trust Google alot, 39.1% (ranked #2) of Gen Xers, while Boomers did not have Google in the top 25 of their trusted brands.
Check out the full rankings and download the report from Morning Consult.
