• by Tanya Gazdik , December 20, 2017

The NFL tops the list of the buzziest brands in 2017, according to nearly one million Americans. 

The sports company is followed by Amazon, Facebook and Walmart in Morning Consult’s Buzziest Brands in America Rankings.

Using data from nearly one million surveys with U.S. adults 18+ across the United States from January to December, the rankings reveal what consumers thought, saw, and heard about the world's biggest brands.

Buzz isn’t necessarily always positive. Faced with the ongoing controversy surrounding the national anthem protests, the National Football League topped the list as the buzziest brand in 2017. The widely popular sports league generated a total buzz of 64%, with 36% being negative buzz and 28% being positive buzz.

Brands facing public scandals such as United (#7), Uber (#10), Papa John's (#19) were in the top 20. Public perception of brands NFL, Pepsi, Uber, United and Wells Fargo took a beating this year due to multiple controversies, but not all of them saw the public turn against them as a result. Morning Consult evaluated how some of the year's biggest scandals have (or have not) impacted brand favorability.

United Airlines' favorability dropped 20% following a tumultuous period with some highly publicized controversies but recovered less than six months later due to consumers' short memories and the airline industry's limited choices

Tech giants dominate the top 10 with Amazon ranking second, Facebook coming in at third and Google at number nine. News rivals Fox News and CNN were ranked 4th and 17th, respectively, in a politically charged year.