Brands And Their Controversies
Over the years, we have seen many controversies that made the brands rethink their marketing strategies. Indeed, there are no brands that have not faced any form of backlash in the journey of success. Though with the increasing options for customers, brands are constantly trying to reach their target audience and outshine the competition. To retain the customers, they often release numerous ad campaigns, whereas sometimes their creativity may backfire. So, here are some big brands that faced controversy:
- WhatsApp’s new policy- The most famous messaging platform faced a massive backlash by introducing its new policy of sharing user data with Facebook, although the reactions of the users were humorous. They created fun memes, tweeted about the regulations, and even gave an alternative to WhatsApp, an option to use Telegram. However, WhatsApp handled the whole matter by not implementing the rules, and also apologized to the users.
- Tanishq Baby Shower- The jewelry brand recently launched a campaign featuring a Hindu girl married into a Muslim family celebrating her baby shower. Typically, this practice is not part of Muslim culture, but the ad commercial displayed a liberal family more concerned about the happiness of their daughter-in-law. The audiences asked why the advertising industry doesn’t show a Muslim girl in a Hindu environment. They criticized the brand and also started a trend to boycott Tanishq.
- Amul: Exit the Dragon- Amul, the brand famous for its products and its amusing advertising campaign, faced controversy for this campaign. The creative portrayed the iconic Amul girl telling the dragon to exit, which is a direct reference to Chinese products. This campaign communicated the message to boycott Chinese products. The whole campaign was endorsing the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ strategy. Soon after posting the campaign, Amul’s Twitter account was blocked, but the account was restored quickly. After the temporary ban, many users accusing the site of having a bias towards India, #Amul began trending on Twitter.
Brands need to creatively plan their advertisement campaigns for progressive viewers and social media in such a way that it does not hurt people’s feelings. Nowadays, individuals also have a forum where they can lift their voice against any problem that may damage the credibility of the brand. Reality and imagination can thus make the brand successful.