---
title: Who do you trust? Band-Aid, apparently
description: Baby boomers and Gen Xers are nearly 2x as likely to trust brands than Gen Zers.
---

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# [Who do you trust? Band-Aid, apparently](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/who-do-you-trust-band-aid-apparently)

 Written by [Ben Berkley](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/ben-berkley) | Jun 2, 2023 11:59:10 PM

It’s time to retire that old “Rip the Band-Aid off” idiom. Seems nobody is in a huge rush to get rid of their Band-Aids.

The first-aid aider topped decision intelligence company Morning Consult’s annual [Most Trusted Brands](https://pro.morningconsult.com/analyst-reports/most-trusted-brands-2023) report.

The Johnson & Johnson-owned bandage brand stuck it to all other US brands for a second straight year, besting other top-five finishers UPS, Amazon, Lysol, and Kleenex.

**Band-Aid wasn’t a hit with everyone…**

… The exception being Gen Z; they don’t trust a damn thing.

The survey calculated net trust ratings — the share of people who say they trust brands “to do the right thing” minus the share who don’t — for 1.5k+ popular companies.

On average, Gen X and baby boomers were the most trusting (~22%), with millennials slightly less trusting (~19%). Those low numbers would’ve been wounding enough.

Then Gen Z lifted those Band-Aids right off and poured salt right on: Their net trust rating was ~11%.

**Are the kids alright?**

A generous view here suggests they’re new consumers who haven’t had time to build trust with companies yet.

But we’ll take a colder, more realistic track: This is a generation that distrusts, well, nearly everything — from [higher education](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/08/12/survey-highlights-gen-zs-distrust-higher-ed) to [state and local governments](https://pro.morningconsult.com/trackers/tracking-trust-in-institutions). They barely even trust [doctors](https://www.forbes.com/sites/debgordon/2022/12/20/33-of-gen-zers-trust-tiktok-more-than-doctors-new-survey-shows/?sh=1d3dd206c7b2).

- Nonprofits were the only category of brands Gen Z responded well to. This checks out; they also volunteer at the highest rates of any generation.

Translation: Institutions of all kinds, including corporate America, have a lot of trust-building work ahead if they want to unlock Gen Z’s spending power.

**BTW: **Who else has customers’ faith? (At least among older Americans.) Rounding out the top 10: Cheerios, Visa, Dove, The Weather Channel, and FedEx.

[View full post](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/who-do-you-trust-band-aid-apparently)

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