Top 5 advertising flops of the past year

DUBAI: Some adverts make headlines for all the wrong reasons.
A host of brands has recently come under fire over a slew of eyebrow-raising marketing campaigns, leading many around the world to accuse the adverts of racism, exploitation and trivializing serious issues to push products. But is all publicity good publicity, as the old adage goes? Mark DiMassimo, CEO of DiMassimo Goldstein, a New York-based branding agency, does not think so.
“Not all bad publicity is good for the brand. A lack of controversy, tension and drama often equals a lack of conversation, interest and attention. Controversy isn’t bad as long as your core advocates and audience is with you and you don’t violate core brand pillars,” he told Arab News.
“I think brands are run by people who want to connect with people and who want to tell human stories that connect.”
McDonald’s recently came under fire for attempting to do just that and is the most recent in this countdown of the biggest advertising flops of the past year.

Did McDonald’s exploit child bereavement?
McDonald’s UK this week apologized for a TV advert that critics slammed as “offensive.”
The advert, released May 12, follows a young boy as he asks his mother about his dead father. The child cannot seem to find anything in common with his father until they arrive at a McDonald’s outlet and, as he takes a bite of his Filet-O-Fish sandwich, his mother says: “That was your dad’s favorite too.”
The campaign was created by London-based advertising agency Leo Burnett and was scheduled to run for seven weeks.
Many complained that they found the clip offensive, however, to which a McDonald’s spokesperson said: “This was by no means an intention of ours… We wanted to highlight the role McDonald’s has played in our customers’ everyday lives — both in good and difficult times.”
Twitter users shared their thoughts on the campaign, with one user posting: “I lost my father when I was a child and I find the latest McDonald’s advert disgusting and offensive. Shame on you!”
However, DiMassimo is not quick to judge the fast food giant too harshly. “Some brands do purposely court controversy, but I don’t think that’s the case with this McDonald’s ad. More likely, they saw this as a credible human story. I would agree.”

Palestinians slam Pizza Hut
Earlier in May, Pizza Hut’s franchise in Israel was accused of mocking hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners with an advert that has since been removed from its Facebook page.
The franchise’s Facebook page shared an image released by Israeli police, which appears to show Palestinian hunger-strike leader Marwan Barghouti breaking his fast.
“Barghouti, if you are going to break your (hunger) strike, isn’t pizza the better choice?” a screenshot of the post said, with a pizza box seemingly photoshopped into the picture.
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are currently on hunger strike due to what they say are poor prison conditions.
A spokeswoman for Pizza Hut International apologized for the post.“It was completely inappropriate and does not reflect the values of our brand,” she told AFP.
Nivea accused of racism
In April, skincare giant Nivea pulled an advert from the Middle East region after social media users claimed it had racist connotations. The ad for Nivea’s “Invisible for Black & White” deodorant shows a woman wearing a white robe with the caption “white is purity” across the bottom of the image.
Twitter users were incensed, with one posting: “Come on #Nivea. This is so racist that I do not even know where to begin. Speechless. In future, refer to clothes or products, not colors.”
Nivea sent an apology directly to Twitter users and pulled the advert. “The NIVEA Middle East post was not meant to be offensive. We apologize. It’s been removed. NIVEA values diversity and tolerance,” the company said in a tweet.

Pepsi faces backlash
Pepsi faced its own much-talked-about debacle in early April and was forced to pull a widely-mocked advert featuring model Kendall Jenner.
The ad shows Kendall Jenner, a member of the “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” reality TV family, stepping away from a modeling shoot to join a crowd of smiling, young protesters. The protesters cheer after Jenner hands a can of Pepsi to a police officer, who takes a sip. Critics say the image of Jenner handing the officer a Pepsi evoked a photo of Black Lives Matter protester Leshia Evans approaching an officer at a demonstration in Baton Rouge last year. Meanwhile, Arab Twitter users were quick to mock the advert with Arab Spring-related jokes.
“Pepsi would’ve made the Arab Spring revolutions a lot more loving and less violent,” one user tweeted.
The company pulled the advert after the overwhelmingly negative response. “Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding,” the company said in a statement at the time. “Clearly we missed the mark and we apologize.”

The ‘most racist commercial ever made?’
In 2016, Chinese brand Qiaobi launched a washing detergent advert that set tongues wagging around the globe.
In the clip, a Chinese woman pushes a black man into a washing machine and he emerges as a Chinese man due to the apparent cleansing strength of the detergent. The advert was slammed online and made international headlines, with the Huffington Post saying it “might be the most racist commercial ever made.”
Following the uproar, the company issued an apology.
“We have no intentions to discriminate against people of color… Ethnic discrimination is something we strongly reject and condemn… The advertisement and the surrounding controversy have hurt people of African descent. We express our apologies, and also sincerely hope Internet users and media won’t over analyze the situation.”
Will these international brands rebound from failure? DiMassimo believes they can. “Not all gaffs are equal. Most aren’t fatal. It’s not so much a matter of forgiveness (by the public) as of forgetfulness.”