Digital Marketing Failures: Burger King, Sears and Pepsi…

Here are fifteen notable digital marketing failures, illustrating how campaigns can falter due to various reasons:

1. Pepsi – “Live for Now” (2017): The ad featuring Kendall Jenner was criticized for trivializing social justice movements, leading to widespread backlash and eventual removal.
2. Gillette – “The Best Men Can Be” (2019): While aimed at addressing toxic masculinity, it faced criticism from some consumers for being overly political and alienating their core audience.
3. H&M – “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle” (2018): An ad featuring a black child wearing a sweatshirt with this phrase was deemed racist, causing significant backlash and calls for a boycott.
4. United Airlines – “Passenger Dragging Incident” (2017): The company’s response to the violent removal of a passenger from an overbooked flight was widely criticized, damaging its brand reputation.
5. Burger King – “Women’s Day Whopper” (2019): An attempt to celebrate International Women’s Day with a promotion backfired as it was seen as tone-deaf and opportunistic.
6. PepsiCo – “Mountain Dew’s ‘Popeyes’ Ad” (2012): The ad was pulled after it was criticized for being racially insensitive and reinforcing negative stereotypes.
7. Kendall Jenner’s “Pepsi” Ad (2017): This ad was widely criticized for its appropriation of protest imagery and was eventually pulled due to negative backlash.
8. Sears – “Christmas Wish Book” (2008): An attempt to go digital with their iconic holiday catalog failed due to poor user experience and outdated digital strategy.
9. Taco Bell – “Taco Liberty Bell” (1996): The campaign, which joked about selling the Liberty Bell, was met with outrage and complaints, leading to its quick withdrawal.
10. Nestlé – “Milkybar – The New Generation” (2008): The campaign was criticized for targeting children with overly aggressive marketing tactics.
11. Audi – “Q7 SUV” (2017): A promotional video showing a car crash test was deemed insensitive and resulted in backlash due to its graphic content.
12. Dove – “Body Wash” (2017): An ad showing a woman of different races removing her shirt to reveal lighter-skinned women was accused of being racially insensitive.
13. Wendy’s – “Twitter Roast” (2017): While Wendy’s is known for its witty Twitter presence, some users found the brand’s roasting of competitors and customers to be off-putting.
14. The Gap – “Logo Redesign” (2010): The abrupt change in logo design without proper communication led to consumer backlash, resulting in a quick reversion to the old logo.

Ronn Torossian founded 5WPR a full service PR and digital marketing agency.