The main purpose of ads is to leave an impact that ultimately grabs the audience's attention. The motive is to increase brand awareness. Every viewer has a different mindset which leads to different impacts.
At times, there are some ads that unintentionally hurt the sentiments of some people. This results in an unexpected reaction. Either people ask to boycott the ads or to take them off-air. These are known as controversial ads which hurt either religious, emotional or personal sentiments.
Since there have been multiple controversial ads over the years, there have been some which have been prominent in people’s minds.
- Always #LikeAGirl :
Ad :
There were some people who were being asked to run, fight and throw like a girl. People enacted the way as if girls are quite fragile and the activities that took place seemed to be way girly.
Problem :
The controversy arose because girls were portrayed as weak opponents when asked to perform activities. At the same time, young girls were called to perform the same activities, and they delivered an outstanding performance. That was the difference where females in general were being considered delicate.With the ad campaign #LikeAGirl, the feminine hygiene brand Always' managed to break the gender stereotype.
- LUSH - #spycops :
Ad :
Lush is a UK based handmade cosmetics manufacturer. In the year 2018, the brand came up with a campaign named “Spy Cops”. A cop was shown in the advertisement having dinner with a female activist and confessing his love to her. There was a transition, where the cop was interrogating the same female in the police station.
Problem :
Lush was trying to bring awareness amongst people in support of the activists who stand against the government decisions. The portrayal went so wrong, that it resulted in people’s rage against the brand. The motive was to let people know that the cops hide their identity and work as undercover agents to extract the information by incorrect means. This led to the defamation of cops stating that they were being ‘ Paid To Lie’.
Lush stated that it was to raise awareness for the ‘Online Undercover policing scandal’. The whole campaign got backlash by the netizens and was opposed as it seemed to be very anti-police to the general public.
- Nike - Colin Kaepernick :
Ad :
Nike being one of the biggest sportswear brands, it keeps on coming with innovative ads to reach a wider audience. In 2018, Nike came up with an ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick, an American Quarterback. The ad consisted of multiple athletes. The aim was to deliver a motivational message to the target audience.
Problem :
The campaign received a huge counterblast as Nike spotlighted Colin Kaepernick who was considered anti-american as he disrespected the American national anthem during a football match. The citizens of America went furious on Colin as he refused to stand for America's national anthem. On the other hand, Nike advertises their brand with Colin and the tagline, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything”,added to the outrage. In response to Nike’s campaign, a lot of people posted themselves destroying the Nike products with the hashtag #justburnt.
That is how worst was the people’s response to Nike’s ad campaign. However, there was an increase in sales by 31% which ultimately benefited the brand.
- Burger King - keeping it real :
Ad :
Burger king came up with a promotional ad #feel your way. The message served in the ad was about the mental illness that some people go through. There’s a man in the video who says “Not everybody wakes up happy” and addresses some issues. “All I ask is that you let me feel my way”. Other people spoke about the problems they were experiencing and the situations they were in.
Problem :
The new mental health awareness campaign was themed as “Real Meals” that tried focusing on the mental health people deal with. Some people found the ad to be very helpful, while some criticized it. There was a question raised stating, is Burger King addressing the mental health issues or using the campaign for monetary benefits.
A poster tweeted,“Mental disorders are not just moods like ‘pissed’ and ‘DGAF” followed by “They cause terrible suffering and hundreds of suicides every day. This new campaign of yours is extremely distasteful”. Some people were offended by the campaign because the portrayal of mental illness appeared to be a minor issue, despite the fact that there is much to discuss. Burger King faced backlash as some people felt that the intensity of the situation was not highlighted.
- Mcdonald’s Dead father ad :
Ad :
McDonald’s is the fast-food giant company and has a widespread craze all over the world. In 2017, Mcdonald’s came up with an Ad, where a boy starts asking his mom about his dad. Boy gets sad, when he hears that there were very few commonalities between him and his dad. However, when he orders Filet-O-Fish and starts eating, his mother says, “ That was your dad’s favorite too”.
Problem :
When the boy realizes that he and his father had few things in common, he becomes depressed. There were more than 150 complaints filed against the ad. It was shown that the boy differed from his late father. While they had one thing in common: Love for Filet-O-Fish burgers.
The ad campaign received a huge backlash and had to take the ad off air. McDonald’s then apologized with a statement reported to CNN, “It was never our intention to cause any upset. We are particularly sorry that the advert may have disappointed those people who are most important to us - our customers”
These were some of the controversial ad campaigns that received huge criticism for the way ads were portrayed. This is why having a social media marketing agency for your ads is important.
While your business comes up with any ad campaigns, it is a must to be careful that they don’t hurt the sentiments of people. To avoid getting into controversies, it is important for a business to know the do’s and don'ts. Since there are multiple competitors in the market today and businesses have a huge space to expand, it is beneficial to hire a digital marketing agency.
These agencies can assist a business in growing with proper guidance. If you are in search of a digital marketing solutions company or a social media advertising agency to expand your business, Verve Media is an absolute choice. The guidance and expertise that they offer help the business to keep away from the don'ts. No more looking for the best advertising agency in Bangalore, choose Verve Media now.