We’ve done several blogs now on some pretty stellar marketing campaigns that are out there in the universe – like LUVS, John Hancock, and more. We’ve told you how much we love them and extolled their virtues far and wide. As we all know, though, for every great marketing campaign there’s a whole lot more that are just plain terrible, be it for one reason…or many. So, without further ado, here’s a few of the more cringe-worthy campaigns we’ve come across as of late (don’t worry…there’ll be more, trust is!):
Burger King: Unfriend a Facebook Friend Campaign
So, awhile back, Burger King came up with this “genius” idea to offer their customers a discount if they would “unfriend” 10 friends on Facebook. Now, if you’ve ever seen how closely certain generations watch social media for relationship status change and what not, you can just imagine how miffed people were to learn they’d been “unfriended” over a measly discount – seriously, Whoppers aren’t THAT good. Needless to say, things got pretty ugly on “The Face Book” and Burger King would up scrapping their campaign after they finally realized it “was a serious damage to their business model”. Sadly, that wasn’t until AFTER over 230,000 peeps got unfriended…and after things got downright ugly on social media for a bit. The lesson to be learned here is pretty straightforward and is, sadly, something that pretty much everyone has to learn the hard way these days…social media is king, and once you put something out there, be prepared for unintended consequences…like backlash.
Aannndddd Then There’s Quizno’s
Honestly, I’m really not sure what to say about these Quizno’s commercials. What I DO know is that “toasty” and “tasty” must be code words for “tacky” and “tasteless”, because those are really the only vibes I’m picking up from either of these ads. Instead of attempting to describe them to you (because I would probably get in trouble for providing my rendition of what the “Toasty Torpedo” commercial is really about), so I’ll just let you watch and decide for yourselves…
“Toasty Torpedo” Ad:
Quizno’s “Singing Rodents” Ad:
Ummm…again, I just don’t know what to say. Again, I’m just going to leave that “Toasty Torpedo” ad be.
So, honestly, it really shouldn’t surprise you that, as horribly bad as the “Toasty Torpedo” campaign was, Quizno’s earlier efforts were even less effective.
In the “Singing Rodents” string of (unfortunate) ads, there’s a trio of EXTREMELY disturbing rat/human hybrid thingies that sing about the wonderfulness that (apparently) is Quizno’s. What’s more frightening than the rodent hybrids themselves, however, is the fact that Quizno’s ACTUALLY PAID MONEY FOR (AT LEAST) THREE OF THESE ADS UNDER THE EXTREMELY MISGUIDED IMPRESSION THAT THEY WERE A GOOD IDEA.
If you’re interested in marketing that DOESN’T wind up on a list like this, give us a call! Here at Transformation Marketing in Panama, Nebraska, we strive to create professional, high quality marketing campaigns that’ll have you jumping for joy…as opposed to cringing in a corner.