Epic ad fails
A year-end roundup of tone-deaf commercials and poor judgment that ‘missed the mark’ in a big way
These companies probably wish they could have a do-over for 2017.
Some brands commissioned advertisements that sparked fury and ire, while others faced PR nightmares that shook their company’s foundations.
Here are some of the year’s biggest brand fails, offering a guide for other companies on what not to do:
Soda popped
Pepsi had arguably one of the worst ads of the year, which faced international backlash for its insensitive nature.
The soda company launched a high-priced ad in April featuring model Kendall Jenner, who decides to drop in on a protest — seemingly against police violence — after finishing a photo shoot.
She’s joined by a diverse group of well-dressed demonstrators, who are facing off against cops in riot gear.
Then the high-paid model cracks open a can of Pepsi, hands it to a cop and cures a swath of society’s ills with the fizzy drink.
The ad went flat nearly as soon as it premiered. Pepsi was accused of being tone deaf to movements against police violence, trivializing a major social issue.
The soda giant canned the ad after a few days, but grappled with backlash for weeks. Jenner, who took the brunt of the criticism, laid low for several weeks and reportedly threatened to walk out of interviews at Coachella if the ad was brought up.
Taking a knee Better outreach. Better PR. Papa John’s.
Perhaps that’s the internal slogan the pizza chain could embrace after founder and ex-CEO John Schnatter made waves for blaming protesting NFL players for his slumping sales.
Schnatter told shareholders during a November conference call that NFL leadership was doing a poor job at blocking players from kneeling during the national anthem. Papa John’s is a major sponsor.
Players began kneeling during the anthem last year, when then-San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick took a knee to protest police violence. “The NFL has hurt us,” Schnatter said on the call. “We are disappointed the NFL and its leadership did not resolve this.”
The statement led to the firm’s shares plummeting, prompting the ouster of the company’s most recognizable face. Papa John’s later apologized for the remark, saying the company supported the right to protest.
Fallen arches McDonald’s came under fire in the United Kingdom for a lengthy, unsettling commercial about a young man trying to forge a connection with his deceased father.
The 90-second spot featured a British boy rifling through his father’s belongings. Then his mother laments on how handsome, athletic, big-handed and well-kept the father was as the awkward teen realizes his traits don’t line up — from his small hands, inability to kick a soccer ball and dirty sneakers.
But at least there’s always their shared love of McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, along with dribbling tartar sauce down their chins.
Advocacy groups for bereaved children in the U.K. slammed the ad, which they claimed capitalized on a boy’s misfortune.
Soapy slip-ups All the soap in the world couldn’t clean up this mess.
Dove ran a GIF on its Facebook page in October that almost immedi- ately sparked outrage.
The ad began with a black woman removing her brown shirt to reveal a white woman — after using Dove’s body lotion — who then removes her shirt to reveal a Middle Eastern woman.
But that first segment sparked fury, implying black women should cleanse themselves and become white. It came months after competitor Nivea ran a racially suggestive ad in April that proclaimed: “White Is Pure.”
Dove pulled the ad, which was roasted on social media with a wave of memes, apologized and admitted it “missed the mark.”