Ruffling Some Feathers With Your Ad Campaign? 

After Dove took a nose dive again with their controversial ad last week, I thought it would be a good time to visit a couple of poorly conceived ads that should teach us all to think about our customers more carefully when creating ads with them in mind. Dove has consistently failed with their initially successful Campaign for Real Beauty.  Its theme of all women being beautiful no matter what size or skin color is a wonderful concept in theory but it hasn’t always translated well. 

 The campaign started strong with a powerful commercial that showed a model’s process in reverse-- revealing all the make-up and Photo-shopping that makes a normally attractive woman reach an unattainable level of beauty perfection. But then Dove's ads took a thoughtless turn. First, they failed with a print ad that showed an unfortunate before and after image implying that a black woman was the ‘before’ of a white woman. The most recent ad is a careless version of that mistake and that repetition of carelessness is what makes this a PR disaster. You can be thoughtless once and appear innocent and remorseful about insensitive ads but if you repeat the mistake your brand is branded. Although most believe Dove's intentions were good the company is being boycotted by some of its most loyal customers and Dove’s reputation is shot.

 GOOD AD [BEFORE CAMPAIGN ERROR]

BAD AD [AFTER ERROR IN JUDGEMENT]

...AND A BIRD OF A DIFFERENT FEATHER---AN AD EVERYONE LIKES A BIT TOO MUCH:

A few months ago, KFC also got some flack over its flock of tough birds. While not racially insensitive, the ad was insensitive to the majority of meat eaters who don’t really want to know that they are eating a soft, furry animal.  The chickens, it seems, were too likeable to eat as they pranced around looking healthy and strong --facing the music as it were…until their inevitable death for a bowl of Kentucky’s best. KFC had to re-think its ad campaign.

If you want to keep your customers happy you have to think about what might make them unhappy. 

Morty Silber, CEO

Mad Strategies Inc.
a Wizard of Ads Partner

McDonald’s is synonymous with fast food and the golden arches logo is branding at its best. The rounded, playful M is a highly visible, abstract pictorial logo that is easy to see, remember, digest, translate, re-create and it is seemingly non-salesy with no words to demand anything. Best of all, it glows on every highway and sidewalk answering junk food cravings everywhere.

McDonald’s has had to fight some steep competition with Wendy’s wholesome family image and Taco Bell’s chihuahua peddling cheap pseudo-Mexican treats as well as a larger obstacle: the health food industry. When adding healthy options failed they embraced their place in the food kingdom and made larger, unhealthier portions and continued to appeal to the family friendly experience.

No one gets the kids dressed up or worries about making a mess at a Micky D’s and, barring a few lawsuits, the playgrounds have always been a draw to busy parents who don’t have either time to cook or energy to watch their kids while they eat.  The Happy Meals and on-site play areas make the dining experience one that is fun and inviting for the toughest customers alive—kids.

The cute little girl in the commercial plays perfectly into the family-friendly campaign. She is every kid who has had a baby brother or sister take away her attention. Every parent can relate to wanting to shower their newborn with love while not forgetting their other children’s feelings. The commercial also offers a common negotiating scenario of trying to get an upset child to smile (or eat). Here the dad’s paper heart is repeatedly rejected until he turns it into the ubiquitous golden arches which, of course, make the girl smile and forgive her dad.

No matter how we feel about McDonald’s or the idea that fast food bribery is more effective than love, the ad successfully addresses every parent’s basic struggles to feed their kids and make them happy. McDonald’s knows fast food makes life easy for families and can motivate billions of golden smiles and sales.

Morty Silber, CEO

Mad Strategies Inc.
a Wizard of Ads Partner

Join the global tea party and create a better spin...

           Amid the tweeting scandal from U.S. President Trump’s latest remark about North Korea this week, Twitter has had to defend its policies and re-think the way it handles controversial posts and accounts. (I imagine it’s a tough position to be in to cancel a president’s social media account but probably not as stressful as impending war.)

This latest round of communication has proven that the virtual pen is mightier than the sword in a time when technology is not only creating war machines but instigating conflicts.  It’s apparent that social media can be more influential than we ever thought possible...

On a positive note, in the marketing world, if Trump tweeted about your product sales would multiply. Even non-Trump fans would want to try it out of curiosity or boycott it out of protest. The protests would draw press which would garner sales because if one of the most powerful men in the world uses your product people want it whether they like him or not. That’s great marketing and it's free.

In the spirit of World Peace Day, Unilever’s Brooke Bond Tea created an ad to disseminate idealistic optimism in response to the digital war and negative campaigning. In this smart ad people are paired according to global conflicts.

The symbolic pairing of a U.S. and North Korean soldier sharing an almost romantic connection while riding on a simple, silly child’s ride is powerful. It has nothing and everything to do with drinking a cup of tea—togetherness, community, sharing, being civilized and all the other “tea-esque” connotations….in a positively distracting spinning tea cup.

The ad is meant to sell an idea and promote good will but it is also advertising gold and proves how valuable digital media is when paired with a great message. Bond understands that sharing a cup of tea gives us time to communicate and a little bit of communication can solve even life's biggest social challenges.

Morty Silber, CEO

Mad Strategies Inc.
a Wizard of Ads Partner