Advertising gone wrong

Advertising gone wrong: Bloomingdales catalog drink spiking ad sinks to new advertising lows!

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I am often rather disgusted by advertising messaging I feel is in poor taste, lacking intelligence, has a negative or deprecating slant, or is inane or otherwise obnoxious. Yes, I can be overly critical at times, but it’s because I believe integrity should be at the root of marketing for it to truly be good, and there isn’t often a whole lot of it in mainstream messaging I see. That said, I have to say that Bloomingdales’ recent holiday ad for Rebecca Minkoff merchandise has to take the cake as one of the absolute worst ever.

Bloomingdales ad--epic fail. WHAT were they thinking? Colorado Marketing Chick.The ad suggests that men should “Spike Your Best Friend’s Egg Nog When They’re Not Looking.” Bloomingdales has since apologized for the “poor taste” and “error in judgement”, but only after the massive social media backlash. To say this is in extremely poor taste and an error in judgement is the understatement of the century. It’s blatantly suggesting young men commit a felony since spiking someone’s drink is illegal, and according to the U.S. Department of Justice, drug rape is one of the most common sexual assault crimes today.

So my question is, how on earth did anyone arrive at the conclusion that there was anything remotely professional, appealing, ethical, or acceptable in producing, much less actually publishing, material like this? Additionally, what could it possibly have to do with the holidays since it was produced specifically for their holiday catalog, and how could anyone in a position to approve ad materials at Bloomingdales even remotely think it was in the company’s best interest to approve something so disgusting and creepy?! I have no issue with pushing the envelope and getting edgy, but that doesn’t mean you lose site of what is ethical and in integrity.

Of course, there is the speculation that this was a devious move on Bloomingdales’ part under the precept that all media is good media, and that doing something so outrageous is a strategic way to gain “earned media.” To that I say, if that was indeed the case, and it might well be, then double shame on them for the underhanded blackhat tactics, and for sensationalizing and capitalizing on a topic which epitomizes a systemic problem in our society.

This marketing professional is steadfastly of the mindset that when you have the power to influence people you should do so with integrity. Marketing doesn’t have to go to such extreme measures to be good—that’s not creativity… it’s stupidity, and just should not happen!

Advertising gone wrong: Kayak’s ad epic fail–depicts elder abuse

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As a marketer, I am very aware that “it’s all in the spin” and that this industry often pushes the envelope on the messages used to promote products. It’s a personal thing I know, but I am very sensitive to what I feel is negative or disparaging messaging, and I see quite a bit of that which saddens, and even makes me angry at times. But I can’t remember when a commercial disgusted me so much by it’s complete lack of common sense, common decency, and humanity to the extent that it literally makes me sick to my stomach every time I see it.

Kayak’s most recent commercial showing a middle-aged man using his elderly and obviously fragile mother’s stairlift so that he can continue his vacation search not only flirts with complete stupidity for the totally inane concept, but it seems to blatantly condone what can only be considered elder abuse as he rides up the stairs past his mother struggling up the flight of stairs. I can’t even fathom a situation where this could be considered funny or remotely acceptable!

I can’t decide which I find more deplorable, the “professional” (in this case I’m really quite dubious that term applies) creative team who conceived the concept and sold it to the client, or the company representative(s) who approved it. Perhaps I’m overly sensitive, but I just don’t see how anyone could possibly think this would create a compelling campaign to make someone want to use Kayak’s service. Perhaps this is a case of corporate espionage and one of the competitors has a mole inside Kayak trying to ruin them. I certainly won’t be utilizing Kayak’s services and will do my best to discourage anyone I know from doing so as well.

I know that I am not alone in finding this commercial offensive, inappropriate, and downright inexcusable. I can only hope that there is enough outrage to impact their bottom line so they discontinue the disgusting commercial and seriously rethink their corporate values and approach to promoting their services!