Campbell’s in Hot Water: Simmering the Brand Back Down
A beloved American brand finds itself in boiling hot water after a senior executive at Campbell’s is secretly recorded making racist remarks, mocking customers, disparaging the company’s products, and boasting about substance use at work. The recording goes public, the executive is fired, and Campbell’s stock hits a 52-week low. But the real question is not whether the executive deserved to go, it’s what this incident reveals about leadership, culture, and accountability inside the organization.In this episode, our panel is joined by brand growth advisor Javier Farfan (NFL, New Balance, PepsiCo, McDonald's, Anheuser Busch) to unpack what happens when private behavior becomes public, how quickly trust can erode, and why firing one executive is rarely enough to fix a systemic problem. The discussion explores the internal cultural damage, the external brand risk, and the opportunity Campbell’s now has to reset its values, reconnect with consumers, and rebuild trust from the inside out.Rather than debating whether the scandal will blow over, the conversation focuses on what meaningful recovery actually looks like and what brands must do when values, leadership behavior, and public perception collide.Key Topics & TakeawaysWhy this incident may be more than a single “bad apple”How lower-level employees can change the balance of power inside companiesThe internal ripple effects of executive misconduct on morale and qualityPsychological safety, retaliation, and why employees stop speaking upCulture as a system, not a slogan on the wallThe difference between cosmetic fixes and structural changeWhy silence and minimal PR responses no longer workHow consumer trust, nostalgia, and brand legacy can be rebuiltTurning a crisis into a catalyst for reinventionStrategic Fixes ExploredIsolating the incident without denying systemic responsibilityHolding executives to higher character and integrity standardsMaking leadership behavior measurable, not theoreticalReinforcing internal accountability and psychological safetyRe-centering the brand around community, care, and accessibilityLeveraging nostalgia and emotional connection without being performativeUsing crisis moments as opportunities for product and brand evolutionWho This Episode Is ForBrand, marketing, and communications leadersExecutives and people managersHR and culture leadersCrisis management and PR professionalsAnyone interested in how power, culture, and trust intersect inside large organizationsDisclaimerA quick disclaimer. We are going into this somewhat cold and nothing we say should be construed as legal advice, financial advice or anything that would get us in trouble. These are our views and opinions. We're here to ask the kinds of questions everyone's thinking. Have an engaging conversation and maybe come to some conclusions that we feel are worth exploring. By the end, if we fixed it, you're welcome. All trademarks, IP and brand elements discussed are property of their respective owners.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.