Marketing and promotional blunders have long been the source of drama in the world of advertising, and they have proven to become even more costly given how crucial a social media presence is to marketing strategies nowadays.
This proved to be the case for KFC earlier this month, after the fast-food chain sent a promotional message to customers on its app in Germany, urging them to commemorate Kristallnacht by buying cheesy chicken. Kristallnacht, or the Night of the Broken Glass, was a series of Nazi-coordinated antisemitic attacks in Germany in 1938, leading to the brutal deaths of more than 90 Jewish people. The message was heavily criticised for its insensitivity on social media, yet it was then blamed on an “error” in the company’s system.
Following this, WhosWho.mt reached out to marketing specialist and BRND WGN Co. Ltd CEO and Founder Peter-Jan Grech about the impact that such a mistake has, and what some of the most memorable marketing fails in history are.
“Unfortunately, while AI is becoming more powerful, there are times when technology does go wrong, and this was a clear example of it,” Mr Grech commented.
He added that he believes KFC’s apology, released around an hour after the promotional message went live, commenting that when “we rely on technology so much, these things are bound to happen”.
“The world has become so fast that it is critical that marketing teams are constantly aware of what’s going on,” Mr Grech said.
Indeed, the industry has continued to evolve, allowing for “a lot of opportunities for marketing teams”, however there are also instances “when they trip up”. He also touched on the idea of a generational gap between one marketing team and the next, as “In KFC’s case, there might have also been a lot of younger people in the marketing team who might not have been that aware of the severity of Kristallnacht and the sensitivity surrounding it”.
When asked whether this ranks as one of the worst marketing mistakes of all time, Mr Grech said that there have been “plenty of others which have possibly been worse throughout recent history”.
“There’s a whole issue right now with BrewDog, who have gone all out against the World Cup in Qatar, possibly rightly so,” he explained, making reference to the Scottish craft beer brewer’s vocal protest campaign against the hosting of the football competition in the country.
BrewDog's anti-sponsor campaign / BrewDog
However, BrewDog “failed to see what this would do to themselves,” as they have been “attacked by a lot of their own people”, since they have condemned slavery and other human rights issues, yet also continues to benefit from sales of its beer in Qatar through an arrangement with a third-party distributor connected to the Qatari Government.
“I would possibly say that Pepsi’s ‘Live for Now’ campaign involving Kendall Jenner was worse, as it was a total disaster,” Mr Grech said.
The soft drink manufacturer, which has made a name for itself over the years for its attractive commercials that often feature some of the world’s most popular celebrities, initially released the advert in 2017 to “project a global message of unity, peace and understanding”. However, it was removed just a day after its release, after receiving a significant amount of online backlash, with Pepsi being accused of trivialising the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality.
Mr Grech also pointed towards the “New Coke fiasco” in 1985 as quite possibly “the worst blunder out of the lot”. The Coca-Cola Company took a huge risk on April of that year, announcing that it was changing the formula of its soft drink, leading widespread criticism, in a way that the company describes as “the likes of which no business has ever seen”.
The company introduced a reformulated Coca-Cola, the first formula change in 99 years, with the intention to “re-energise” the soft drink, yet it then reverted to the original formula just 79 days later.
He also highlighted the criticism that fashion retailer H&M suffered in 2018 amid the release of an advert showing a child of colour in a green hoodie with the words “coolest monkey in the jungle”, leading many to call for a boycott of the company, while the ad was removed from its website.
On a completely different note, Mr Grech also made reference to Burger King’s series of adverts released in 2020 featuring a mouldy Whopper burger, which “shocked the world”. While it was initially done to highlight the fact that it had removed artificial preservatives from the burger, not everyone took a liking to it, especially since it was seen as a dig towards McDonalds and its food not rotting even after various months.
“Overall, everyone makes these types of mistakes, as even us [BRND WGN] in our 16 years in the industry have had our fair share of blunders. Sometimes, the fast pace of our lives can lead to some things going wrong,” Mr Grech explained.
“We need to have all the right systems in place to keep our eyes on everything that is taking place,” he added.
However, when these things do go wrong, he also said that it is important to “take care of matters” and be honest about it. “Honesty is crucial, and while there might be backlash, especially online, it is important to come out and say the truth about what happened”, Mr Grech concluded.
Mr Grech co-founded BRND WGN with Kris Vella Petroni in 2006, originally as a freelance network of creatives and strategists. Since then, it has developed a reputation as a “challenger agency”, renown for its work in building “strong identities and powerful social media campaigns”. Today, BRND WGN has transitioned from a marketing agency, to a marketing consultancy firm, giving equal importance to creative brand strategy and execution.
Social Image: KFC Malta / Farsons Group
Main Image:
