--- title: The Wacky World of Conspiracies Is No Fun for Brands description: No, Wayfair doesn't sell children in $10,000 cabinets. But lots of people are saying they do -- which means conspiracy theories are a threat to brands. image: https://www.trustsignals.com/hubfs/trust%20and%20conspiracy%20theories.jpg --- [![Trust Signals Trademark](https://www.trustsignals.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Trust%20Signals%20Trademark.png?width=300&height=82&name=Trust%20Signals%20Trademark.png) ](https://www.trustsignals.com/) - [About](https://www.trustsignals.com/about) - [Book](https://book.trustsignals.com) - [Blog](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog) - [Rankings](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/tag/rankings) - [Contact](https://www.trustsignals.com/contact) [ << Back to Blog ](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog) [Reputation Management](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/tag/reputation-management) # The Wacky World of Conspiracies Is No Fun for Brands ![Image of Scott Baradell](https://www.trustsignals.com/hubfs/Images/scott-banner.jpeg) ###### Scott Baradell **Published:** Aug 27, 2020 **Last Updated:** Aug 20, 2021 ###### Share [mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/the-wacky-world-of-conspiracies-is-no-fun-for-brands%20&body=Check%20out%20https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/the-wacky-world-of-conspiracies-is-no-fun-for-brands&media=https://f.hubspotusercontent30.net/hubfs/7507638/trust%20and%20conspiracy%20theories.jpg](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/the-wacky-world-of-conspiracies-is-no-fun-for-brands%20&body=Check%20out%20https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/the-wacky-world-of-conspiracies-is-no-fun-for-brands&media=https://f.hubspotusercontent30.net/hubfs/7507638/trust%20and%20conspiracy%20theories.jpg) To borrow a phrase from George W. Bush's now-famous critique of President Trump's inaugural address: people are believing some "weird shit" these days. Namely, conspiracies such as: - School shootings are actually staged events put on by "crisis actors;" - COVID-19 was created as a biological weapon; - Global child trafficking rings are being run out of pizza parlors; - Global child trafficking rings are being disguised as online furniture stores; - and etc. and so on. What does all this craziness mean for [reputation management for brands](https://www.ideagrove.com/approach/reputation-management)? [I get into it on the TrustRadius blog.](https://www.trustradius.com/buyer-blog/restoring-trust-after-conspiracy-theory) Spoiler alert: it's not good. [![Ready to make your brand more visible and trustworthy to both human buyers and AI systems?](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/7507638/interactive-153859540751.png) ](https://cta-service-cms2.hubspot.com/web-interactives/public/v1/track/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLLICw8PcBcsYLk6IU86PbUJVD4ht0ARlOHe5qwlBTbNVhg9HY8LTg8DdECQ2XlW4vycH4chdyZQHjjTFKxXdLRTxZWpkBLwu6RN4A9rVuBksXRMsSWl26aqBL6a%2FT8%2F3AroNkKaaV8J1AL2s7ePK%2BVQSZkEI4r7aWgaRKnv56Au6GqVfN5Vbw%3D%3D&webInteractiveContentId=153859540751&portalId=7507638) ![Image of Scott Baradell](https://www.trustsignals.com/hubfs/Images/scott-banner.jpeg) #### Scott Baradell Scott is founder and CEO of Idea Grove, one of the most forward-looking public relations agencies in the United States. Idea Grove focuses on helping technology companies reach media and buyers, with clients ranging from venture-backed startups to Fortune 100 companies. ###### Blog posts ## Related Articles [Reputation Management](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/tag/reputation-management) ![Image of Namo Abdulla](https://www.trustsignals.com/hubfs/Namo%20Abdulla%20TrustSignals.com.jpg) ##### Namo Abdulla ### [Only One of Big Tech's Big Five Comes Out Unscathed in RepTrak's 2021 Global Reputation Rankings](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/big-tech-plummets-in-reptrak-100) We've previously written about the [trust crisis in Big Tech](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/02/02/tech-companies-and-trust-four-steps-to-winning-over-an-increasingly-skeptical-public/), and with all the talk in Washington,... [ Read more ](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/big-tech-plummets-in-reptrak-100) [Reputation Management](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/tag/reputation-management) ![Image of Scott Baradell](https://www.trustsignals.com/hubfs/Images/scott-banner.jpeg) ##### Scott Baradell ### [Crisis Communications Is a Moment of Truth for Trust](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/crisis-communications-is-a-moment-of-truth-for-trust) Like [reputation management](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/reputation-management-is-pr-playing-defense), crisis communications is PR playing defense. I've worked crises ranging... [ Read more ](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/crisis-communications-is-a-moment-of-truth-for-trust) [![Trust Signals, a Registered Trademark of Idea Grove LLC](https://www.trustsignals.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Trust%20Signals%2c%20a%20Registered%20Trademark%20of%20Idea%20Grove%20LLC.png?width=300&height=82&name=Trust%20Signals%2c%20a%20Registered%20Trademark%20of%20Idea%20Grove%20LLC.png) ](https://www.trustsignals.com/?hsLang=en) - [Latest Articles](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog) - [Must-Reads](https://www.trustsignals.com/must-reads) - [Contact](https://www.trustsignals.com/contact) [Privacy Policy](https://www.ideagrove.com/privacy-policy/)  |  [Terms of Use](https://www.ideagrove.com/terms-of-use)  |  All Rights Reserved. © 2024 Idea Grove LLC [Follow us on LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/trust-signals) [Follow us on Twitter ](https://twitter.com/Trust_Signals) [Follow us on Instagram ](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAZE-jawJu0kizmRKCb7A0w) [Follow us on Quora ](https://www.quora.com/profile/Scott-Baradell) [Idea Grove Website ](https://www.ideagrove.com/) [Follow us on Facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/DallasSEO/) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Scott Baradell", "url" : "https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/author/scott-baradell" }, "dateModified" : "2021-08-20T15:19:58.453Z", "datePublished" : "2020-08-27T22:29:26.000Z", "headline" : "The Wacky World of Conspiracies Is No Fun for Brands", "image" : [ "https://www.trustsignals.com/hubfs/trust%20and%20conspiracy%20theories.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/the-wacky-world-of-conspiracies-is-no-fun-for-brands", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.trustsignals.com/hubfs/Trust%20Signals%20-%20Phase%201%20Redesign/trust-signals-logo-1.svg" }, "name" : "Media Orchard LLC" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "Organization", "address" : { "@type" : "PostalAddress", "addressCountry" : "US", "addressLocality" : "Dallas", "addressRegion" : "TX" }, "alternateName" : [ "TrustSignals", "Trust Signals Marketing" ], "description" : "Trust Signals is a B2B PR and AI visibility agency founded by Scott Baradell, creator of the Trust Signals® framework. 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