Trust in CEOs craters, Bed Bath & Beyond pulls ‘blackface’ jack-o’-lanterns, and Gen Z keys in on brand purpose

Good morning PR pros:

Confidence in corporate leaders is at its lowest point since the 2008 recession, according to a recent report.

The New York Times wrote:

Confidence among chief executives fell to its lowest level in a decade in the third quarter, according to survey data collected by the Conference Board, a nonprofit research group. The last time the survey came close to showing these levels of gloom, businesses were still shedding about 800,000 jobs a month because of the recession.

That’s a problem for communicators who want to get key messages in front of stakeholders. Even if you manage to break through, what are the chances your audience will believe you?

Some organizations have responded by ditching their CEO—at record numbers—but how can you get the trust back?

The Times’ piece hypothesizes that the recent spate of stock buybacks (made possible by Republican-sponsored tax cuts) have led to this crisis, in which companies can no longer invest in their own stock, which could trigger a market falloff.