The 10 most partisan brands in America — from Ben & Jerry's to the NRA

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a U.S. legal advocacy nonprofit specializing in civil rights litigation. It’s also known for pursuing legal challenges against white supremacist groups and classifying hate groups across the U.S., including Neo-Nazis, white nationalists, and Holocaust deniers.

Although the SPLC’s classifications are often cited by the media and left-leaning groups, conservatives have frequently criticized them. The right-wing Heritage Foundation last year claimed the group “spread hatred” by “smearing” political enemies as hate groups. Some conservative influencers have been named extremists in its reports, including Jack Posobiec, an editor at Human Events and an activist likely best known for pushing “Pizzagate” and other conspiracy theories.

As a result, liberals overwhelmingly favor the SPLC— giving it a score of 38.7 — while conservatives aren’t fans, with a negative 20.6 point impression. The difference between the two is 59.3 points.

Chick-fil-A’s primary controversy goes back more than a decade, when The Huffington Post reported that LGBTQ+ employees feared being fired if their managers discovered their sexuality.

In the weeks leading up to that report, then-CEO Dan Cathy said he opposed same-sex marriage and reports that the Cathy family — who founded the chain — had donated millions of dollars to organizations fighting against same-sex marriage. That led elected officials to, at the time, urge the chain to stay out of their cities, companies to cut their ties, and gay rights groups to organize national protests. In November 2019, Chick-fil-A said it had stopped funding the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes after pushback from LGBTQ+ activists.

Conservatives overwhelmingly approve of the fast-food chain, with net impressions hitting 54.2, while liberals’ score sits at negative 6.5. That comes out to a difference of 60.7 points.

For an ice cream brand, Ben & Jerry’s hasn’t exactly been shy about sticking to its guns, even when toeing into some of the most politically sensitive topics.

Three years ago, the company said it didn’t want its frozen treats to be sold in Israeli settlements in the West Bank; its board of directors in January called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and in May called pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses “essential” to democracy. In the past, the company — which is being spun off next year — has spoken out on economic inequality, international peace, racial inequality, and other issues.

Over the years, Ben & Jerry’s has released political flavors, like the “Save Our Swirled” and “One Sweet Whirled.”

The dessert chain is heavily favored by U.S. liberals, with a score of 56, while conservatives have a net impression of negative 5.7. That’s a difference of 61.7 points.

Trump Hotels is controversial basically because of the name it shares with its founder, Former President Donald Trump. The many, many, many controversies associated with Trump are too numerous to count at this point, but it’s safe to say that Democrats are not in favor, while Republicans are largely in support. Liberals’ perception of the chain is scored at negative 37.5, while conservatives’ rating is pinned at 27.8 points, for a difference of 65.3 points.

Although CNN and MSNBC are pretty different news networks, they’re viewed pretty equally by liberals and conservatives. Although liberals have a better opinion of MSNBC than CNN — 35 to 33.5 — and conservatives have a worse opinion of CNN — negative 34.6 to negative 34.1 — the total difference comes out to 69.1 for MSNBC and 68.1 for CNN.

Both channels cater more to liberals than conservatives, who largely turn to Fox News Channel or alternative media, although MSNBC is perceived as more progressive-minded. Both have also had their fair share of controversies, ranging from news coverage to personnel issues.

The NAACP is America’s oldest civil rights organization, having been founded in 1909 by a group that included Ida B. Wells and W.E.B. Du Bois. Over the decades, the NAACP fought to eliminate racial prejudice and secure equal protection for all people, among other things.

The modern NAACP continues to advocate for racial justice and, in January 2021, issued a series of policy recommendations to President Joe Biden’s administration. That list included several broad recommendations focused on helping poorer Americans, such as canceling student debt or raising the federal minimum wage, as well as policies targeted to support Black Americans.

The NAACP has courted some controversy in recent years as it looked to reinvent itself and become more “vigilant and agile,” as the group said in 2017 after critics said it had become irrelevant and slow to react.

The NAACP last year issued a travel advisory for Florida, citing concerns that African Americans’ lives “are not valued” in the state; the advisory is still active. The group had previously issued a travel advisory for Missouri in 2017. For more than half a year, the NAACP had a travel advisory for American Airlines after reports of hostility toward Black passengers, which it contemplated reinstating after an incident in May.

U.S. liberals had a positive net impression of the group, at 49.6 points, compared to a negative 22.2 for conservatives. That’s a difference of 71.8 points, according to YouGov.

Fox News Channel, the most-watched news channel in the U.S., has a well-earned reputation for appealing to conservative audiences. Republican and conservative-leaning Americans regularly turn to Fox for their information and to listen to well-known conservative voices, like Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and (formerly) Tucker Carlson.

In the course of pursuing its audience, the company has earned the scorn of Democrats and the praise of some Republicans. Fox Corp. and several anchors were also sued by voting machine companies Smartmatic and Dominion over election fraud claims spread on the network. According to YouGov, U.S. liberals’ impression of Fox is scored at negative 48.8 compared to 30.9 points for conservatives, marking a difference of almost 80 points.

Despite its success, arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby has a laundry list of controversies. The chain was started by the family of founder David Green, and their Christian beliefs are deeply tied to the business.

Hobby Lobby has publicly opposed regulations requiring employer-provided health insurance to cover emergency contraceptives, disciplined a transgender employee for using the women’s restroom, and the Green family has contributed millions to a group funding anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Hobby Lobby initially said it would ignore stay-at-home orders before closing all stores and furloughing all employees — without pay — in April 2020.

Liberals’ net impression of the retailer is scored at negative 23.9, while conservatives’ perceptions are pinned at 56.4. The difference between the two is 80.3 points, according to YouGov.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) was founded in the late 1800s to improve military preparedness in anticipation of future wars, according to Frank Smythe’s “The NRA: The Unauthorized History,” and even supported gun control legislation. Over the course of the latter half of the 20th century, the NRA became a lobbying giant more heavily interested in political advocacy, quickly becoming one of the most powerful lobbying organizations in the U.S.

For decades, the association has been a staunch opponent of gun control, often calling for solutions to gun violence that don’t affect gun ownership laws. After a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, in March 2023, the NRA called for more security in schools rather than better gun control and previously backed a push to arm teachers with firearms.

As a result, the — usually — pro-gun control liberal side of America’s net impression of the NRA is a negative 51.9, while conservatives scored it a 38.5, according to YouGov. That’s a difference of 90.4 points.

It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that Planned Parenthood is the most controversial brand surveyed by the researchers. The 107-year-old nonprofit has been an advocate for reproductive and sexual healthcare and sexual education for decades, and is now a global organization.

The firm is the largest single provider of reproductive health services and the largest provider of abortions in the U.S., helping 2 million patients each year. That’s gotten it praise from pro-choice advocates and the American left and scorn from conservatives. It scored a 67.2 from liberals and negative 34.1 from conservatives — a difference of 101.3 points.

There are also some issues with Planned Parenthood’s founder, which have net it criticism by groups across the political spectrum. Margaret Sanger was a well-known proponent of eugenics, or the idea that humans could “breed” the perfect human race and weed out certain traits. As NPR described in 2015, that idea was taken to its “horrifying extreme” during the Holocaust, Planned Parenthood has repeatedly disavowed Sanger’s beliefs, labeling eugenics as an “inherently racist and ableist ideology” that is in “direct opposition” to its views.