12/18/2017

Marketing's Biggest Fails

A major marketing mistake can have a hugely negative impact on any organization

What do marketers and advertisers fear the most? Pushing out a campaign that gets a ton of buzz for totally missing the mark—especially when it comes to exploiting people’s pain.

Just think about the Kendall Jenner “Live for Now” Pepsi ad from earlier this year. In it, Jenner ditches a modeling job to join a protest where tensions between cops and protesters are rising. To alleviate that tension, Jenner hands one of the police officers a can of Pepsi. “Arguably, the biggest brand gaffe Pepsi committed with this spot was putting its product in the center of social issues while simultaneously trivializing said issues,” writes Kristina Monllos in an article for AdWeek.

Facebook also took a public relations hit for Hurricane Maria insensitivity. Mark Zuckerberg showed off the company’s Facebook Spaces VR app by having his cartoon avatar tour the wreckage in Puerto Rico after the hurricane. “Facebook’s decision to conduct a ‘magical tour’ (as Zuckerberg dubbed it) of the damage was seen as exploitative,” says Monllos.

Please click here to read the complete article from Associations Now.