Aaron Rodgers' Reputation Takes Hit Following COVID-19 Controversy
Public sentiment toward Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers took a significant hit after it was revealed he tested positive for COVID-19 and had misled the public about his vaccination status.
The positive test forced Rodgers to miss the team’s game Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, and it is unclear if he can return this coming Sunday for a game against the Seattle Seahawks. Rodgers and the team could face fines if the NFL finds they violated league protocols for unvaccinated players.
The impact
Rodgers’ lack of transparency about his vaccination status and subsequent appearance on the “The Pat McAfee Show,” in which he blasted the “woke mob” and questioned the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines, puts his sponsors in a difficult position, survey results show.
- News of Rodgers’ positive test and his misrepresentation of his vaccination status spread quickly, with more than half of U.S. adults saying over the weekend that they’d heard at least “some” information about the recent controversy.
- Fifty-nine percent of U.S. adults said it would negatively impact their perception of a brand if a celebrity spokesperson associated with that brand lied publicly about their vaccination status. However, only 29 percent of respondents said they would feel more positively about a brand that cut ties with an endorser who lied about their vaccination status, compared with 37 percent who said they would feel more negatively about that brand.
- Wisconsin-based medical services provider Prevea Health announced Saturday that it would end its partnership with Rodgers after nine years. State Farm, the national insurance company Rodgers has prominently endorsed since 2011, took a different tack in a statement Monday, saying, “We don’t support some of the statements that he has made, but we respect his right to have his own personal point of view.” Prior to Monday’s statement, however, State Farm appeared to reduce the frequency of its TV ads featuring Rodgers. State Farm has not directly addressed either the controversy over Rodgers’ vaccination status or accusations that he peddled COVID-19 misinformation while on the McAfee podcast.
The Nov. 5-7 survey was conducted among 2,199 U.S. adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
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