Understanding the Impact of Bad Brand Ethics on Consumer Engagement

When brands successfully partner with a celebrity, it can positively benefit both parties. Collaborations can boost brand awareness and customer loyalty, leading to an increased market share and financial gain. A prominent example was the partnership between Kanye West and Adidas. This collaboration resulted in the Adidas Yeezy brand, which generated an estimated $2 billion a year, close to 10% of Adidas’ annual revenue (Popli, 2022).

In contrast to the benefits of a successful partnership, this article explores the outcome of when partnership goes wrong. While celebrity endorsed products generate substantial profits for companies, those profits are also affected when celebrities engage in behavior that is contrary to the views of the company (University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, 2023).

The Demise

In 2022, after several years of Adidas Yeezy brand success, Kanye West publicly made several antisemitic actions and statements. With no response from Adidas, the public applied pressure to take action. Several weeks later, Adidas terminated the partnership which immediately put an end to production of Yeezy branded products and stopped all payments to West and his companies (Herzogenaurach, 2022).

Brand Values

In this case, Adidas did not uphold their purpose, ‘Through sport, we have the power to change lives,’ guides the way we run our company, how we work with our partners, how we create our products, and how we engage with our consumers (Adidas, 2025).

Whether their loss of purpose began when West was hired, or at the time of the antisemitic remarks, their choice of partner and lack of taking responsibility resulted in a far worse outcome than what could have been — if they had lived their purpose.

Consumer Brand Perception

This instance of Adidas facing ethical issues impacted consumer perceptions in brand recognition, credibility, and likability — all were negatively influenced. Additionally, Adidas differentiated themselves as a brand with unethical practices, boosting the images of their competitors (Wheeler & Meyerson, 2024). Brand engagement metrics that likely saw a decline include:

Implications for the Brand

Adidas’ deviation from their core brand principles resulted in a decline in consumer confidence and financial loss. In addition to separating itself from the negative image generated by West, this event had a significant impact on their overall marketing and promotion strategy. Despite having many successful past collaborations, Adidas re-evaluated its strategy for brand partnerships with influencers and celebrities (Sarjono et al., 2025) and must now focus on its existing product lines to attract new business.

“A brand is an asset that holds reputational and commercial value — Nurturing and protecting a brand is a long-term investment in building brand equity. A brand needs care and protection to hold its value and appreciate over time.”
-(Wheeler & Meyerson, 2024)

In Hindsight

To preserve brand equity, Adidas should have maintained all elements of their mission and purpose — when brands are perceived by consumers to be ethical, the brand enjoys higher brand trust, brand equity and brand loyalty (Nichols et al., 2023).

“We are the best when we are the credible, inclusive, and sustainable leader in our industry.” -(Adidas, 2025)

This Yeezy example is extreme in all ways — a partnership with an opinionated person who was given leniency for too long, and Adidas, who ran with success and lost sight of remaining diversified.

I doubt Adidas will have a partnership of this magnitude in the future, and only time will tell if their re-evaluated brand partnership strategy was a smart move. The effect of celebrity behavior on company brands and products bring a lot of risks and costs associated with partnerships (University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, 2023), and unfortunately Adidas had to learn the hard way.

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