From viral jeans to Glassdoor scenes

You don’t need a PR crisis to go viral — just a few unhappy employees with a TikTok account

Everywhere you look — the news, TikTok, or the queue at your local coffee shop — someone’s talking about that Sydney Sweeney x American Eagle ad. You know the one. The “good genes” vs “good jeans” spot that’s sparked a whole lot of conversation online.

Whatever your take, the numbers speak for themselves. American Eagle’s stock jumped more than 20% on the Monday after the campaign aired. A reminder that when it comes to consumer branding, buzz often turns into business.

All press is good press, right? Well, it’s not quite the same story in employer branding.

Your EVP isn’t a stunt

You can’t drop a viral post and expect Glassdoor reviews to magically improve. Employer brands aren’t built on buzz — they’re built on trust. And trust only shows up when there’s a match between what you say, and what your employees experience.

A real EVP doesn’t sit in a PowerPoint deck. It lives in your onboarding, your leadership, your culture, your Slack channels, your exit interviews. And if there’s a gap? That gap becomes your reputation.

Your careers site is not the final word

It might be polished. It might be clever. It might be full of cake Fridays and career growth and flexible hours. But candidates won’t stop there. They’ll check LinkedIn. Glassdoor. TikTok. Reddit. Wherever your name lives online, they’ll look for receipts.

If you’ve promised balance but delivered burnout? Or raved about flexibility while expecting cameras on at 8am sharp? That’s what they’ll talk about. Not your banner copy.

You don’t get to narrate what happens next

When the employee experience doesn’t match the promise, people don’t just leave — they document the exit. And they don’t need a marketing budget to do it. One TikTok about “that time my manager cancelled my honeymoon for a client call” can do more damage than a full-page ad ever could.

Because today’s candidates trust real employees more than anything you publish. And honestly? They should.

Earn it — or expect to explain it

If your EVP is real, people will feel it. They’ll share it. They’ll sell your company for you, without even being asked. But if they can’t recognise the company you’ve described? They’ll say that too. And their version travels further, faster, and with way more impact.

So no, not all press is good press. Not when it comes to your reputation as an employer.

Because your employer brand doesn’t live in your tagline.

It lives in the comments.