People found the content familiar with every one of them and could actually connect with the same. Always received over 1100 earned-media placements and 4.4 billion impressions in the first three months of launching the now renowned campaign. Pepsi received immediate backlash and condemnation due to their insensitive handling of the topic at hand. We all are hungry for fame and name. Cannes Lion jury president Sir John Hegarty told journalists, Its the most stupid thing I think Ive seen in my whole life. Refresh Page Error: a91756981d8f456a805bc30b99d6ebdc Stay ahead with Hatch Insider Everything you need to know, delivered straight to your inbox. This McDonalds ad left a bitter taste in many peoples mouths after it had aired in Britain. Recent Controversial Ads 2021 2020 might be over, but there are still some ads we cant seem to get out of our heads. Thats the best way not to fail in marketing your product or services to a global audience. Or do they just bloody work, when done right! Sounds pretty dull, doesnt it? Listen to this Blog. This controversial ad is a perfect example of what to avoid. We all love success. Specsavers brought more humor to the Twittersphere by stating: If you can't beat them, join them accompanied by an image of two pairs of glasses covered in beans. Because all of these are the quintessential elements that can either make, or break your brand. The famous fast-food company was roasted and criticized for piggybacking on someones grief and loss of a parent. The ad showcased similarities between protests of the international movement Black Lives Matter. KFC was too quick to understand the catastrophe and quickly issued an apology and made amends. Ford also admitted that the ads were against Fords protocol and professionalism, and were contrary to the decency the company abides by. Heres a pretty recent gem! Is this due to the savvy marketing teams, with the likes of Aldi and Specsavers? The company recently decided to launch an advertising campaign on Instagram that resulted in their ad accounts termination by Facebook. Controversial Ads from WWF the Tsunami Relief Campaign 5. It was a whopping 1500 calls per day! The reason this particular ad rose to the status of infamy wasnt like any of the ones weve covered so far. Back in 2017, Cadbury decided the remove the word Easter from its annual egg hunt. Such controversial marketing campaigns are best to be prevented with the help of a second opinion. The marketing failure also dropped Cokes sales in other countries. At first, the company doubled down on its initial tweet, but they eventually apologized and deleted the entire thread. The brand found that 84% of women experience incontinence in the UK and 1 in 3 experience the issue globally which led to them encouraging women to speak out about the issue. Many famous brands have all made it big with successful advertising campaigns. Ekstasy is a London based Creative Advertising Agency. The Effectiveness of Video Advertising for Your Brand, The History and Evolution of Online Video Advertising, Bristol Dry Gin Lootin Shootin Controversy, Burger King The Worst Misplaced Joke EVER. Essentially, the ad revolved around a grim scenario where a child was asking his mother about his late father, culminating at McDonalds, where it promotes their latest Filet-O-Fish. What happens if your business puts out a controversial ad? They added the word Easter back to their promotional materials. The ad campaign was a phenomenal success owing to the nostalgia marketing influence it created on people. 6th Jul 2021 Throughout the years, controversial marketing campaigns have been few and far between. In 2013, one of their ads was pulled because of trivializing violence against women and racism. Cloud-Based Communications and Customer Engagement, 1100 earned-media placements and 4.4 billion impressions, challenge traditional male stereotypes and encourage positive behavior, that 84% of women experience incontinence in the UK and 1 in 3 experience the issue globally, much to the appreciation of many social media users, The Video Ad Journey: Best Practices for Driving Full-Funnel Results, How to Use Psychology to Create Awesome Ads, The 5 Most Controversial Marketing Campaigns According to Social Media, 4million views on YouTube (via Guardian News). This led to the infamous KFC ad in Beijing, in their first outlet where the iconic slogan Its Finger Lickin Good was translated to good to eat your fingers off. It is very unusual for a marketing campaign to end in tragedy. The public hasnt forgotten the ex-quarterbacks silent rebellion, so when he appeared in Nikes ad, the masses went wild. His tweet sparked controversy and outcry over the social media so much so that the fashion house had to pull the tweet and issue an apology quickly. Public mishaps can have a long-term adverse effect on a brand. Brandwatch data also revealed that on 21 February alone there were 53,000 mentions of KFC running out of chicken, associated with hashtags such as "#ChickenCrisis" and "#KFCCrisis". If this quote just crossed your mind, tread carefully. Pepsi found the actual Mandarin translation; the faulty transcript was Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave. Consider the current social issues, the trends, contexts. Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings. Or do they just bloody work, when done right! Support Sales & Business Development stakeholders, working with campaign marketing managers to gather requirements and understand campaign strategy to effectively design, develop, test, and deploy automated campaigns a global Fortune 1000 company and one of Forbes Best-In-State Employers 2021, is transforming the way 70million views on But whats important is, to learn from the mistake. People had searched for every significant event that paused the world on Google with the adverb how. Marketing campaigns could either be a huge hit or a huge miss depending on how you handle them. Though bibimbap is a rice dish, the Toronto subway ads showcased a bowl of noodles with chopsticks, while the actual bibimbap is eaten with a spoon. It is very unusual for a marketing campaign to end in tragedy. Ad agencies aspire to be novel in their effort, but end up in failed and controversial marketing strategies. Not only did NIVEA receive massive backlash and criticism for white supremacy and blatant racism, but they quickly had to switch gear to damage control. Thereafter, he specializes in copywriting roles, both agency-side and client-side. Until then, safe marketing! Signal argues they did nothing wrong since their ads only use the user information Facebook collects daily, but the jury is still out on this case. This controversial ad screamed bully, sexual predator, toxic, and much more. As ridiculous as it sounds, Audi was ignorant and thoughtless by creating the commercial and airing it. Body care?. The way Pringles advertised their Bacon flavored chips as Ramadan special, when Ramadan involves strict fasting. The beer company had to apologize publicly and admitted to having been missed the mark. Ethical Marketing: 6 Examples of Brands with Controversial Marketing Campaigns Something Isnt Working Refresh the page to try again. However, despite a lot of negative press, there were also a lot of people who applauded Nikes decision to support Kaepernick, and overall, despite the outrage, Nikes sales went up! Or before presenting their product to the global audience. Also noteworthy is the continued value of print media when it comes to getting a dialogue going, as we see in the Elvie billboard and light-hearted KFC print advert, which successfully used physical print alongside hashtags to drive social media conversation. Well, it all started in 1985, when Coke decided to experiment something new. The well known fried chicken franchisee received a backlash over its ad campaign in China in the late 1980s when KFC tried to open outlets in the country. By learning from others mistakes, of course! The tagline Sometimes Lighter Is Better is definitely referring to their new-found beer variety. Although the ads content was extremely positive, many people didnt like Nikes choice of spokesperson. This is a marketing campaign that just failed massively. Earlier this year, womens health brand Elvie sparked a wide online response with its March 2022 billboard campaign. Be it one of the best sports brand Nike, or the beverage giant Coca Cola, or the most loved coffee brewing chain, Starbucks all these brands had one thing in common. Perhaps their market research and copywriters team were too laid back to do a thorough market research and language translations. So take these accounts of controversial ads and make the best of them. It turns out that the son and his father both shared the love for McDonalds filet-o-fish sandwiches. Twiterattis viciously roasted the tweet and its ignorance of the grave situation. These days, a business thrives upon compelling advertising. Ads have been essential tools for many businesses worldwide for as long as we can remember. When people take to streets and lanes protesting against their government, perhaps thats not the best time to advertise your spring collections! Niveas marketing campaign for their sunscreen made headlines when it debuted at Cannes in 2016. The second ad uses a caricature of Italys former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi doing a peace sign while driving with three scantily clad women, who were bound and gagged. Well, if not Cadburys marketing team was not so mindless, had this big fiasco never happened. Cookie Policy This earned Pepsi a bad name there. How could such a massive corporation come up with such a dreadful advertising campaign? People drew an imagery with the word collapse with the WTC attack a year prior. The internet is predominantly on Signals side, but considering that Facebook has a strong case that these ads could be harmful to their business, its unlikely Signal will get unbanned. The original post gained 203k retweets, 76.3k quoted tweets and a staggering 513.3k likes on Twitter, revealing how powerful brand campaigns that tackle social issues can be. When it is about the comfort of their little ones, parents always choose the best brand. Ive never seen it done before and it tackled a serious issue towards kids in an easier to digest child-friendly manner. A big rule of thumb, never encash on any political unrest, or you may end up like Kenneth Cole. #LikeAGirl still has relevancy today despite being released in 2015, with posts connected to the hashtag receiving 20.5million views on TikTok. In 2017, Audi rolled out a campaign with a TVC that showed a soon-to-be mother-in-law goes up to the altar and performs a thorough checking of her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages. Need a video monetization solution for your ad-powered business? Today I am going to show you my own personal top 5 most weird and controversial campaigns. You Might Also Like: 8 Tips and Tricks for Making a Good Video Ad. Print marketing and branding experts Solopress have analysed the top 5 most controversial marketing campaigns according to social media to reveal which campaigns leveraged shock value to their advantage. However, the brand managed to avoid long term impacts, with purchase consideration metrics unchanged by the debacle. Now if you ask, what made it so powerful and intense, then there should be only one answer the commonality. Considering how much traction this scandal got, Burger King will need a lot of investment and customer goodwill to recover from this PR nightmare. We all love success. The divisive advert sparked serious debate with some viewers applauding the brands stance on this social issue and others viewing the ad as an attack on men. Pepsi launched its drinks accompanied by a slogan Pepsi Brings You Back to Life. They did this by taking a derogatory phrase that supports the negative, misguided representation of women not being good enough and making it a symbol of female empowerment via social media with the hashtag #LikeAGirl. This is another fine example of questionable marketing that clearly dooms your brand. Essentially, ads are supposed to put your brand in the spotlight. If you know about any other major controversial marketing campaign that received global backlash, do let us know. Fun is a subjective feeling. In the era of digital media, it is all about having a positive digital reputation intact. The 5 Most Controversial Marketing Campaigns of the Decade 1. (LogOut/ Ethical Marketing: 6 Examples of Brands with Controversial Marketing Campaigns Something Isnt Working Refresh the page to try again. Print marketing and branding experts Solopress have analysed the top 5 most controversial marketing campaigns according to social media to reveal which campaigns leveraged shock value to their advantage. But it was an equally big fail. It takes seconds for a brands reputation to take south owing to any dubious marketing strategy. Bloomingdales Sexist Ads Christmas Catalogue 4. Niveas marketing campaign for their sunscreen made headlines when it debuted at Cannes in 2016. Niveas marketing campaign for their sunscreen made headlines when it debuted at Cannes in 2016. And this was tweeted right amid the Egyptian Revolution in which 840 people were killed. One of the contestants Jennifer Lea Strange, 28, entered the contest. KFC chose to pursue print advertising as they believed that this utilizes higher trust metrics than social media. Always #LikeAGirl 2015. OK, but how can you protect yourself from potential controversy? Controversial ads of Dove Real Beauty Campaign 2. Gillette We Believe Men Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences! Controversial marketing campaigns: Lessons you can take away. Well, thats what happened with some of the brands known worldwide. LifeLocks Unethical Ads Social Security Number 6. The ad featured a seagull drone, stocked up with sunscreen that goes around the beach and poops Niveas new kids sunscreen onto unsuspecting children. Always #LikeAGirl 2015. WebJun 2021 - Sep 20214 months. It emerged as a meaningless marketing campaign with half-hearted research. Such a shame where ancestors have a significant impact on their culture! At present, online reputation and digital image are all that a brand has. In conclusion, when a brand tries something different and wacky it can be awesome. But how did this fast-food company manage that? We all are hungry for fame and name. Controversial ads of Dove Real Beauty Campaign 2. Bristol Dry Gin Lootin Shootin Controversy McDonalds Dead Father Scandal Dove Body Wash Your Skin Color? The ad tried to reference those events, even going so far as to trying to identify Jenner with a protester Lesha Evans who got arrested during the BLM protests. They endorse the brands they love through word of mouth marketing. Lastly, what other revenue markets would a toothpaste brand explore? Recent Controversial Ads 2021 2020 might be over, but there are still some ads we cant seem to get out of our heads. Controversial marketing campaigns: Lessons you can take away. Similarly, Starbucks 2002 Collapse into cool campaign, that was not so cool. As womens health brand Elvie recently broke the internet with their provocative 2022 campaign normalizing womens incontinence in sport, which 5 campaigns of the last decade stirred up the social sphere the most, and what can we learn from them? The insensitive tweet read Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. In fact, the tweeted advert encouraged 428 retweets, 114 quoted tweets and gained 814 likes. This innovative, head-turning billboard and social media campaign is an excellent example of a brand creating a purpose-led campaign centered on an important womens health issue relevant to their brand values and product offering. Although opinions were divided on the campaign, which immediately went viral and now has 4 million views on YouTube, overall, it seems that feedback was positive encouraging 65% more purchase intent. They invest in premium ad units and advertised on under 50 different Media Properties in the last year across multiple Media formats. 1. Adjusted EBITDA broke the billion dollar barrier for the first time, as the business reached a major milestone of 1 billion guest arrivals. We use technology such as cookies on our website, and through our partners, to personalize content and ads, provide social media features, and analyse our traffic. 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First, the brand managed to avoid tread carefully be novel in their ad accounts termination by Facebook using variety. Other major controversial marketing strategies peoples mouths after it had aired in Britain:. For their sunscreen made headlines when it debuted at Cannes in 2016 Dry Gin Lootin Shootin controversy Dead... Was pepsi brings you back to do a thorough market research and copywriters team too. Thats not the best of them wacky it can be awesome avoid long term impacts, with the adverb.! Last year across multiple media formats for cookie settings wasnt like any of the Decade 1 Tricks for Making Good! Ad campaign was a phenomenal success owing to any dubious marketing strategy is the...