Epic Marketing Fails: Providing a Laugh and a Lesson (Part Two of Three)
Posted by: John B | Posted on: April 30th, 2012 | 0 Comments
FAIL #3: Pepsi fails at Chinese translation
Image source: http://www.glantz.net/blog/campaigns-that-failed-to-translate
You may remember Pepsi’s old slogan, “Come alive with the Pepsi generation.” Well…Pepsi probably wishes they could forget this one. Only after taking the campaign and the slogan to China did they realize that in Chinese the slogan translated to “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave.”
Lesson to be learned: Do your research.
A marketing campaign that works perfectly on your home turf may be ineffective or even offensive in other cultures. Make sure the message you are translating will resonate with the different audience and that you follow the customs of the location where you intend to market.
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FAIL #4: Turner Broadcasting creates the appearance it’s bombing more than just its marketing campaign.
Image source: http://www.businesspundit.com/10-epic-advertising-fails-2/
One of, if not the biggest marketing fails of all time, occurred in 2007 when Turner Broadcasting attempted to market its television show, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, by placing blinking LED placards up across the city of Boston. Having hoped to draw the city’s curiosity, the campaign instead ended up drawing the city’s bomb squad when residents called to report suspicious wire filled devices that resembled explosives. Despite the panic it incited, no criminal charges were filed, but the company did have to pay millions to Homeland Security and city police to resolve the matter.
Lesson to be learned: Put yourself in the audience’s shoes.
Although the negative outcome of this campaign may have been a little harder to foresee, there were still plenty of reasons to suspect that such a reaction could occur. This campaign was occurring in a major city in a post 9/11 world. Whether they knew about the show or not, who wouldn’t be concerned by a device in the middle of a city block with wires sticking out of it? Lesson learned: always look at your marketing tactic from the perspective of the beholder. What will they think? How will they react?
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Enjoying this blog series? Don’t forget to check back on Wednesday for the third and final installment featuring one last hilarious marketing fail and a final take-away lesson.
Epic Marketing Fails: Providing a Laugh and a Lesson (Part One of Three)
Posted by: John B | Posted on: April 26th, 2012 | 0 Comments
Poorly thought out placards can unintentionally create a citywide bomb scare. Advertising with graffiti can enrage an entire town. A poorly translated slogan can make your company the laughingstock of a nation. They sound crazy, but these are some of the true and outrageous lessons that major companies have had to learn from failed attempts at creative marketing campaigns.
The clutter of marketing that exists today has created a tremendous need for creativity so that messages actually get the attention of their target audience. To keep up with this demand, companies have found themselves trying some very different marketing campaigns; some of which turned out to be true strokes of genius, while others….not so much (to put it politely). As long as there are going to be marketing campaign masterpieces, there are going to be the complete opposite as well. While these failures provide a good laugh, they can also provide us a good lesson of what NOT to do.
Stay tuned to our blog over the next week. On Monday we’ll be bringing you part two of this three part series, looking at some of the most embarrassing and most interesting marketing failures of all time and a lesson that you can learn from each.
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FAIL #1: Kentucky Fried Chicken gets grilled
Image source: http://www.businesspundit.com/10-epic-advertising-fails-2/
To market their newly revealed grilled chicken, KFC joined forces in 2009 with one of the most powerful forces on the planet; Oprah Winfrey. As a part of this business partnership, Oprah was to promote KFC’s offer of a free two-piece grilled chicken meal. Having underestimated Oprah’s influence, KFC was flabbergasted when an estimated 10 million people downloaded the coupon for the free meal online. Not having enough of the product to meet the demand, KFC had to actually turn customers away and in some locations, close early. With its tail tucked between its legs, KFC was forced to drop the deal and apologize to its frustrated clientele.
Lesson to be learned: Don’t promise something that you can’t deliver.
KFC customers felt cheated and infuriated when they were told they couldn’t receive the free chicken they were promised. The marketing strategy that was supposed to improve KFC’s relationship with its customers and positively promote its new chicken actually ended up doing the exact opposite. If this fiasco can teach us anything, it’s that if you’re going to offer something, you better actually be able to provide it.
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FAIL #2: No one’s drinking the Hacienda Kool-Aid
Image source: http://www.businesspundit.com/10-epic-advertising-fails-2/
Hacienda, a Mexican food chain in Indiana, posted billboards throughout the state, referencing the Jonestown Massacre, a mass suicide event where over 900 people died after drinking poisoned punch. The billboards, which showed a mixed drink and a caption reading “We’re like a cult with better Kool-Aid,” offended residents across the state. The billboards were taken down in a hurry, but not before providing the restaurants with a massive amount of negative publicity.
Lesson to be learned: Don’t associate your organization or product with something cynical.
As these billboards exemplify, it does not matter how unserious your message is, some people are always going to take it seriously. Even though you may find the humor in it, it is guaranteed that not everyone else will. Why risk association with something cynical? Wouldn’t it just be better to find a positive association?
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Like what you’ve read? Don’t forget to check back on Monday for part two of this series, with more interesting and funny marketing fails (and the lessons you can learn from them).
In the meantime, we’d love to hear your input on these first two marketing fiascos. What are your thoughts? Are you shocked these failures were able to occur? Could something, or has something like this, occurred at your company?