The death of Hayden Panettiere, at the age of 36, sparked a wave of messages on social media, but also reignited an old dispute between the actress and Neutrogena, the brand whose face she was for approximately a decade.
After news of her death broke, Panettiere’s followers began calling for a boycott of the brand, recalling an accusation the actress had made in the final months of her life.
In her memoirs and in an interview, Panettiere said that Neutrogena ended her contract after she spoke publicly about the postpartum depression she suffered after the birth of her daughter.
The actress said the decision was a severe blow and that she never imagined speaking about her mental health experience could end up affecting her relationship with the company.
After her death, the criticism returned with force. Calls to stop buying Neutrogena products appeared on social media, while some of the brand’s posts began filling up with comments related to Panettiere.
The impact also reached the market: shares of Kenvue Inc., Neutrogena’s parent company, fell more than 2%, although they later recovered part of that value.
It is important to note that the stock market drop alone does not prove that the boycott caused the decline, since shares also respond to other market factors.
Meanwhile, the controversy continues to grow. Searches related to a “boycott of Neutrogena” rose by more than 5.000% on Google Trends, and thousands of users have expressed their rejection of the brand on social media.
An old story about Hayden Panettiere that had been pushed into the background returned to the headlines after her death:
her followers are now turning that accusation against Neutrogena into a boycott that has even reached the stock market.