In the world of marketing, there are campaigns that manage to connect with the audience and others that turn into media disasters. Whether due to cultural mistakes, misinterpreted messages or concepts that simply didn’t work, some actions not only failed to achieve their objective, but also damaged the brand’s reputation.
Here are three examples of campaigns that gave us a lot to talk about. Perhaps they should never have seen the light of day, perhaps their objectives were different and we didn’t realise it, perhaps we were just trying to be a bit polemical. But, without a doubt, what you will read below invited at the time to rethink the strategy followed.
1. Audi and its sexist ad in China (2017)
In an attempt to highlight the importance of quality in second-hand vehicles, Audi launched an advertisement in China that generated a wave of criticism and accusations of sexism.
In the spot, a couple is about to get married when the groom’s mother-in-law interrupts the ceremony to physically examine the bride as if she were a second-hand car. She checks her ears, her nose and even her mouth before approving her. The scene ends with the phrase ‘An important decision must be made with care’, followed by images of used Audi vehicles.
This attempt to generate a humorous action was interpreted as a case of misogyny, as it downgraded the role of women with second-hand commercial products.
The outrage on social media was immediate and Audi was forced to withdraw the ad and apologise. The manufacturer clarified that the campaign was developed by a Chinese partner and not directly by the company. However, the damage to the brand had already been done and left a big stain on its reputation in the Asian market.
2. Jaguar and its controversial rebranding (2024)
In an attempt to modernise its image, Jaguar recently launched a rebranding campaign with the slogan ‘Roaring into the Future’.
The strategy included a new logo, a redesign of its cars and a change in the tone of the brand, moving away from its classic, sophisticated approach to instead adopt a more minimalist, futuristic aesthetic.
The problem came with the campaign’s main ad. It showed a Jaguar in slow motion accompanied by a voiceover claiming that the brand was ‘leaving its legacy behind’ to focus on a ‘new minimalist luxury’.
Fans of the company’s products, accustomed to its image of British elegance and exclusivity, felt betrayed. The removal of the iconic leaping jaguar emblem and its replacement with a flat, simpler typeface was heavily criticised on social media. In general, most of the negative comments were that the brand had lost its essence. Was that the intention?
Many compared the move to Gap’s failed rebranding in 2010, which it reversed in less than a week. Although Jaguar defended its new image, the unease of its most loyal customer base raised questions about the future direction in which the company is headed. It also raised the question of whether a shift in brand focus should be directly dependent on customer feedback, especially if it is to target a different customer base.
3. Nocilla and its controversial advertisement with a Satisfyer (2024)
Sometimes, trying to be transgressive can go horribly wrong. Nocilla’s attempt to modernise its image and connect with a younger audience resulted, in 2024, in a campaign that many found unnecessary and confusing.
In the spot, a man takes a Satisfyer out of a drawer and, believing it to be a thermometer, tries to measure his temperature with it. The scene shows the surprise of his granddaughter, who says that ‘there are things that need to be explained with Nocilla’.
The campaign generated an avalanche of criticism. While some saw it as a comical situation, most consumers considered the ad to be unnecessarily provocative and unrelated to the brand. In addition, many questioned the target audience, as it combined a children’s and family product with an explicit reference to an adult pleasure object.
The scandal led the brand to withdraw the advert and issue a statement in which they claimed that their intention was to break taboos and modernise the image of Nocilla, but acknowledged that the message was not well received by all.
In this case, the search for virality became a boomerang that hit the brand’s image hard.
Crisis management
When a marketing campaign becomes a reputational problem, crisis management plays a crucial role in softening the damage. The speed with which a brand responds, the transparency of its communication and the ability to acknowledge mistakes can determine the ultimate impact on its image. In these cases, apologising forthrightly, taking corrective action and explaining the lessons learned are key steps to regaining the public’s trust and preventing a communication crisis from becoming a long-term problem.
Estos ejemplos dejan claro que una buena idea creativa no es suficiente. El verdadero reto está en entender el contexto cultural, anticipar cómo va a responder el público y alinear la campaña con los valores de la marca.
However, not all controversy is synonymous with failure. Sometimes it is part of the plan to provoke, to make people uncomfortable or to divide opinions. The important thing is not to lose sight of the real objective of the campaign. What may look like a mistake from the outside may have been a perfectly calculated move from the inside.
