A new consumer database called the Brand Ledger is tracking the ownership, manufacturing history and perceived quality of 345 brands across categories that include tools, cookware, footwear and household products.
The project is published by Worse on Purpose, a newsletter that examines how acquisitions, outsourcing, licensing and cost cutting can change familiar products. The database places brands in four categories: approved, watchlist, former great and avoid. As of Aug. 10, it listed 140 as approved, 108 on its watchlist, 18 as former great and 79 in its avoid category.
Each entry is intended to show who owns a brand, what it historically produced and why the publisher assigned its current rating. Recently updated entries included SK Tools, Wolverine, New Balance, On, Salomon and Nike. The site’s latest linked investigation examined where major athletic shoes are manufactured and how much production is outsourced.
The ratings are editorial judgments by the publisher, not government safety findings or an independent certification. A change in ownership does not by itself prove that a product has declined, and quality can vary across product lines, factories and model years. Consumers should treat the ledger as one research source and compare its claims with warranties, recall notices, specifications and recent testing.
The database’s methodology page says it considers ownership structure, documented manufacturing changes, product stewardship and evidence of quality problems. Because the project is updated as conditions change, a brand’s status may be revised when new ownership or product information becomes available.
The project arrives as consumers face increasingly complicated corporate structures in which a familiar name may be licensed, sold or managed by a parent company that is not obvious on packaging. Ownership databases can help shoppers ask more precise questions, but the usefulness of any rating depends on transparent evidence and consistent standards.
Source: The Brand Ledger by Worse on Purpose. Accessed Aug. 10, 2026; the page does not list a separate publication date.
