NathanThe Suicidal Volkswagen Ad
Volkswagen was under fire for creating an advertisement that contained a story plot involving a suicide bomber. This ad showed a Middle Eastern man dressed traditionally who parked his VW car in front of a cafe where there were a woman and her child. He pressed the detonator on his chest but the car absorbed all the explosion. The tagline was “Polo. Small but tough.”
Dolce & Gabbana Ad Depicted Sexual Assault
The talented designer duo Dolce & Gabbana made a print ad that contained a woman who looked as though she was unwillingly participating in a sex act where other men work onlookers in the frame. This ad was received as promoting sexual assaults and got banned in Italy and Spain because of “the passive and helpless position of the woman relative to the men around her, and the representation of abuse or the idea of violence towards her.”
Nivea’s “White Is Purity” Campaign
Nivea had its tagline “WHITE IS PURITY” that was blatantly written in the ad. The caption of the ad also wrote, “Keep it clean, keep bright. Don’t let anything ruin it, #Invisible.” This ad was automatically viewed as an incredibly racist propaganda that the company was promoting. One person ranted about this on social media: “Shame, Shame, Shame on you. Fire your marketing person and anyone who approved this ad.”
Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi Ad
In 2017, there was a Pepsi ad that showed Kendall Jenner calming a riot with a sip of the drink. It was compared to a picture of a Black Lives Matter protester Ieshia Evans in Baton Rouge. Pepsi had to release a statement addressing the failed as saying, “Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding. Clearly we missed the mark, and we apologize. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are removing the content and halting any further rollout.”
McDonald’s ‘Dead Dad’ Advertisement
In 2017, McDonald had to stop their advertisement that showed a woman explaining how different her son and his deceased father were. However, they both enjoyed Filet-O-Fish sandwiches. This was seen as highly insensitive towards kids who have single parents. After many complaints, McDonald’s made a statement: “It was never our intention to cause any upset. We are particularly sorry that the advert may have disappointed those people who are most important to us — our customers.”
Hyundai Used Suicide To Sell One Of Its Cars
Hyundai made a commercial in Britain in the year 2013 which featured a man who was hosing down his the engine pipe, sitting and seemingly waiting for death. The advertisement was meant to promote the ix35, that consisted of water emissions that prevented the man from his death. The people who saw this as were stunned to see such insensitive content being used in the renowned car company.