A study carried out by vaping retailer vapour.com asked 1,203 consumers in England which brands they most often saw as litter. 89% said McDonald’s, while 87% named Coca-Cola.
The burger chain and cola brand were some way ahead of the next three: Walkers (72%), Cadbury (65%) and KFC (64%). None of the other brands mentioned scored above 50%, with the next highest being coffee chains Costa (43%) and Starbucks (40%).
Worryingly for these brands, those surveyed did not regard litter as a minor issue. 57% considered it to be a problem, while 76% said they viewed a brand negatively when they saw its packaging among waste on the street.
A third (34%) said they would be less likely to buy from a brand they saw as litter. And a large majority saw it as the responsibility of brands to tackle the litter problem: 82% said businesses should be doing more, compared to 72% who wanted the government to do more.
The research also looked at the problem of littered cigarette butts.
