Lets Talk Controversy

Two big advertising controversies have hit the news recently. Here is what I love about controversial advertising. First I love the fact that the agency knows exactly what they are doing (most of the time). They are willing to walk on the edge of the knife to make an impact. Secondly, they usually come up with a creative way to do so. It is all about balancing the right about of impact with the correct amount fallout.

Now lets take a quick look at these two previously mentioned ads. First, one of the largest sports brands on the planet - Reebok. Now I know most people in the USA thinks when it comes to sexuality in Europe - anything goes! Well apparently that is not true. Reebok launched an ad that asked men to   "Cheat on your girlfriend, not on your workout" - and these ads were placed in men's and women's locker rooms in 85 of the brand's partner gyms across Germany for two weeks. Is this really that bad? Its creative, its in the locker room, so I am sure it made more than a few people chuckle. In my opinion it is not even directly offensive? I suppose it promotes a negative lifestyle - cheating - however does it really offend anyone directly? Guess it does not matter, ads pulled, apology issued. I think however this was a great creative example of balancing impact and level of controversy and is worth a mention!

Now lets really take a walk to the edge. This ad hit a bit closer to home, here in the good US of A. Belvedere Vodka took a walk on the wild side with a very controversial ad which stated "Unlike some people, Belvedere always goes down smooth". Now it is safe to say that somewhere in the creation of this ad someone stopped and thought... "are we going to far?" Well allow me to step in, the answer is yes, yes you went way to far. Not that you couldn't predict the outcome, a beehive of angry feminist groups, human rights groups, hell pretty much everyone launched a full scale attack against Belvedere and their marketing team. To be honest, I am not even sure I think this idea was creative - instead (again this is Vodka we are talking about) it seems to be designed for shock and awe (which you could argue they did achieve - when was the last time ANYONE talked this much about Belvedere?). Poor taste Belvedere - I expect better from the liquor industry. Next time they want to walk the line, sexual abuse probably should not be your first stop. This was a bad example of a controversial ad. Lots of fall out - negative image - army of angry people. Maybe next time we stay a bit more P.C. 

Images via Reebok and The Week