Top 5 Controversial Ad Campaigns
Advertising has been an integral part of marketing. Ever since marketing has been into existence, there have been millions of advertising campaigns, print ads and marketing strategies have been formulated in order to create a better brand name, image and value of the particular company. Witty, finicky and profound advertisements have always been appreciated and respected in the marketing world. But what happens when these ad campaigns go sour?Controversies are sparked.Here is a list of the top 5 controversial ads of all time which have shocked the entire world with their infamous content or their vicious graphic images :
1. "Unhate" - +United Colors Of Benetton
Global fashion brand United Colors of Benetton found itself in deep soup on their release of their advertisement campaign "Unhate". The series of advertisements displayed heavily photoshopped images of world leaders embracing each other. The Italian brand had a lot of explaining to do when therese print ads were illustrated in different parts of the world. In this particular ad from the whole "Unhate" series, American president Barack Obama is seen kissing Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez. The White house was left in a frenzy when these ads flared up across the globe. The Vatican even condemned a photograph portraying Pope Benedict XVI kissing a top Egyptian imam (this one was removed from the campaign). By the end of it, the "Unhate" concept was eclipsed by the whole "Debate" aspect, that the advertisement ended up sparking.
2. "Don't treat others the way you don't want to be treated" - Humans for Animals
In 2011, a French animal right group, Humans for animals, launched an advertising campaign "Don't treat others the way you don't want to be treated". The campaign comes from TBWA in Paris, where a series of disturbing print ads were released. In this specific print ad, a Walrus can be seen with a bat in the mouth with a lifeless baby, covered in blood, lying right next to it. The bat is dripping blood, which implies that the Walrus has beaten the baby to death. The message of the ad was very clear, but the way it was illustrated just generated the feeling of filth in one's mind. The company accepts it's campaign ads as their own. The whole advertising scenario was taken in very bad taste depicting shocking images. The entire campaign was ineffective and furthermore drew a lot of negative reactions from the public as well as the media.
3. "Keep her where she belongs" - Unknown
This vintage ad from the 1960's is a classic example of the disgraceful state of women in the past. The advertisement clearly strikes the viewer with the poor impression of females in the early period. Such stereotypical ideas were used to market different products in the market. In the shown ad, which is one of the most controversial one, a naked model is shown lying right besides a shoe with the quote "Keep her where she belongs" implying that the worth of a female is equivalent to that of a luxury shoe. The image however did not flicker any controversy in that period, but such an ad today would create a tremendous marketing blunder. This advertisement was banned in the 1980's because of obvious "visible" reasons along with many other vintage ads created during the same era which were also based on stereotypical concepts.
Japanese automobile giant Toyota came into spotlight in the year 2008 because of their infamous marketing campaign for their Hybrid presentation, Prius. The ad campaign revolved around the tagline "Well, at least he drives a Prius" which is portrayed in a manner as if it rectifies a person's unkempt act, or the only righteous act the driver is doing. The advertisement was designed by the Bread & Breakfast Advertising Agency. This specific ad from the series of three print ads released, shows a person dragging a dead body near an isolated lake where he plans to dump the body. There were many allegations on Toyota for releasing such a negative ad in the market and sparked controversies in the media. Toyota later made a press release stating that the ads were "the work of an art director who is apparently trying to promote himself". We don't know anything about that though, all we know is that poor Toyota had to face the consequences of a "funny" ad campaign gone bad.
5. "Pubic Enemy" - +GUCCI
One of the most controversial ads ever came from the Italian luxury brand Gucci, the print ad showed model Carmen Cass with a "G" signifying Gucci shaved into her pubic region. This advertisement was the most complained ad in many countries including UK and Sweden in the year 2003. The photographer for the shoot, Mario Testino, named this infamous shot as the "Pubic Enemy". Carmen is revealing "topiary"in the shot which was condemned for being degrading and pathetic for women. Even after thousands of complaints from the public throughout 2004, the UK Advertising Censorship did not ban the ads.
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