BrandSnark: Good Week/Bad Week for the Big Brands

Sad Week: Gibson Guitars The legendary American guitar manufacturer – who brought us the iconic Les Paul electric guitar among other classic models – filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. But don’t fret: the company will sell off certain business units and streamline operations around a greatly narrowed product line.

Squirmy Week: Adidas – The athletic shoe and apparel giant danced around celebrity designer Kanye West’s controversial statements about slavery in a statement that sure sounded as if the company’s CEO was putting profit ahead of principle. Open mouth, insert sneaker.

Rotten Week: Kroger A North Carolina food processing outfit that supplies meat to the grocery goliath is recalling more than 35,000 pounds of ground beef that may contain shards of plastic. The bad beef was intended for sale in Kroger stores in Virginia and Indiana.