Featured Image Caption: Advertising Failures
“Never stop testing and your advertising will never stop improving”. But it seems like some advertisers have taken this quote by David Ogilvy a tad too seriously. Because in the course of trying to increase the sale of a product they have ended up making ridiculous TVCs that have caught the attention of viewers for all the wrong reasons. Here are some examples of epic advertisement failures.
1. SALMAN KHAN IN REVITAL AD:
A man who is going to turn 50 in a few years and is allegedly still single, advertising you to pop pills that is going to REVITALise you like him? Really? Definitely Salman Khan has the power to have the biggest grosser of the year with movies like Wanted and Kick, but this advertisement is not really a winner even if it has Sallu Bhai in it!
2. AXE CHOCOLATE AD:
A man definitely wants to have the power to turn the heads of girls when he is out on the road or partying. But is it really his wish to have his ass bitten off by one? Don’t think so! But that is exactly what this advertisement shows. A man turning into chocolate after spraying the deodorant and then having girls run after him. It’s definitely taking it a tad too much. No wonder the censor alarms got ticking!
3. RAJNIGANDHA PAN MASALA ADS:
Since when did Pan Masala, that is a growing addiction and has carcinogenic properties, help building the pride of Indians? Confused? One look at the series of Pan Masala advertisements and you’ll understand. From a billionaire coming back to benefit his native place to a son who pays off his father’s hard work, these typically filmy advertisements definitely have one thing in common, that is they have nothing in common with eating Pan Masala. Another fail!
4. VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE:
The dowry system is perceived as one of the worst social evils with activists running pillar to post to eradicate it and we talk about the next generation making it extinct. In such a situation if a renowned MNC like Volkswagen portrays one of its products The Beetle as one of the ultimate rewards of marriage (read – dowry) how far will that go?
5. FAIR AND LOVELY/HANDSOME ADS:
A moderately known actress/actor with a visibly blackened face ( the wonders of makeup, of course) is not getting the attention of his/her crush or an opportunity to become an actor and in comes a renowned actress/actor and advice her/him to use this infamously famous beauty product and voila! The actress and actor get back their already-present skin complexion! Definitely gullible to a very small section of the audience but does this rather racist advertisement make any sense? Definitely an epic failure.
By Abhisha Roy
who is residing in Kolkata.
Member since February, 2018
View all the articles of Abhisha Roy.
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