BrandSnark: Good Week/Bad Week for the Big Brands

Good Week: Kodak The once-moribund brand (anyone remember film?) saw its stock rise from the ashes after announcing it will enter the digital licensing and cryptocurrency market. Through the new KodakOne and KodakCoin offerings (respectively), photographers will be able to register licensable work and receive payment when that work is reproduced. Stay tuned to watch what develops.

Bad Week: Toyota More airbag problems caused the world’s #2 automaker to recall more than 600,00 vehicles in the U.S. spanning a variety of Toyota, Lexus and Scion models sold between 2010 and 2013.

Worse Week: H&M – The Swedish discount fashion chain was excoriated across every media format after running an online ad in Britain showing a black child modeling a sweatshirt that read “Coolest monkey in the jungle.” The tone-deaf ad was pulled as complaints started to roll in, and H&M issued a public apology, but the damage was already done: social media swarmed with threatened boycotts and celebrity endorsers jumped ship. #brandpoliceasleep