SOME OF THE WORST MARKETING MISTAKES OF ALL TIME

TASTELESS:

Ford Figo Ad

The year is 2013, Harvey Weinstein was just exposed for his horrible
sexual assault crimes against female actresses. The #MeToo movement is gaining crazy momentum and celeberties are wearing all black to the Gold Globes. Ford decides the best way to bring attention to the new Ford Figo is to release a print ad where three women are gagged and tied up in the trunk of former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi's Ford Figo with the caption "Leave your worries behind with Figo's extra-large boot." At a time where the world was feeling the effects of violence against women this ad was met with disgust and backlash. Although the ad never main in paid media, it's presence online did enough damage. This ad was a reminder to companies everywhere that there is a difference between a ballsy ad meant to grab attention and an ad that is completly disrespectful.

SEXIST:

Audi Wedding Commercial

In 2017 in an attempt to get Chinese and international consumers to purchase their Audi vechicles straight from the manufacturer, Audi put out an ad with the main idea that it's important to certify a product and make sure of it's quality before purchasing. In the Chinese video ad a groom's mother walks up to her daughter-in-law and "inspects" her before giving approval to her son, the mother then goes back to her seat where she casts her attention to the bride's breasts, the horrified bride covers her chest with her hands. The commerical then cuts awat to an audi driving along an empty highway with a man's voice explaining "An important decision must be made carefully. Only with an official certification can you rest easy." This outraged many consumers internationally for it's sexism and objectification of women, it missed it's main point and instead reduced the bride's value to that of a car. Several people urged Audi to apologize and some even suggested boycotting the company. Overall this ad taught marketers that there are things that can be compared in ads and that there are things that should never be compared.

CULTUALLY INSENSITIVE:

Dolce & Gabbana Chopsticks Ad

In 2018, designer fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana put out a series of video ads of social media to promote it's upcoming Shanghai runway. These ads feature an woman of presumably Chinese decent dressed in Dolce & Gabbana designs attempting to eat multiple Italian food items with chopsticks. The ad opens up to a voice speaking in mandarin saying "Welcome to the first episode of 'Eating with Chopsticks' by Dolce & Gabbana" - the brand name being pronounced incorrectly on purpose to mock chinese speech patterns. In all of the videos the voice makes disrespectful comments such as: "Let's use these small stick-like things to eat our great pizza margherita." This ad did not land over well with Chinese consumers, many of them feeling offended and sterotyped by the advertisment. Many felt that this series of videos showed the brand's racist and outdated view of China. Within 24 hours many of the Chinese and asian models who were to walk in the show had withdrawn and D&G's Chinese brand ambassador, Wang Junkai, terminated his deal. This was a lesson to brands everywhere that when advertising in another country, you must be respectful of their culture.

NAMING FAILURE:

American Motors Spanish Translation

Back in the 1970s, American car company American Motors were naming their new mid-size car when they finally agreed upon the name "The Matador." The marketing executives chose the name as a symbol of courage and strength which went over well with their American consumers. What American motors failed to realize was the blunder they got themselves into when trying to market to South American consumers. The term Matador is synonymous with the dangerous and life threatening sport of bull fighting in Spanish and Latin countries, to put it simply matador meant killer in these countries. Needless to say, South American consumers were not lining up in hopes of purchasing a motor vehicle that's name was equated with death in their countries. This situation is definitely one for the textbooks, it's a lesson to all companies out there who want to do international business: name your products wisely.