In the United States, advertising budgets continue to grow by tens of billions of dollars annually. Ad and commercial budgets keep getting bigger even in the wake of a global economic recession.
Are you a business owner looking to make the most of your advertising dollar in 2024 and heading into 2025? Start by learning what to avoid for your television and social media commercial ads! This article will help you get started by showing you some of the most controversial ads of all time.
Read on to learn what not to do with your advertisements and TV commercials before it is too in 2024 and 2025. And who knows what awful commercials will arise in a crazy 2024 economy!
1. Nationwide's Dead Boy
This Nationwide television commercial was showcased during the Super Bowl. The first part of the commercial shows things that the boy will never do, such as getting cooties, riding a bike, and flying. It then leads to why he won't experience these things… because he dies.
This kind of storytelling is considered lazy and leads to annoyance and disappointment. The audience likes change and growth in a character. People also don't like fear tactics like this in their television ads, scaring them into buying an insurance plan.
2. Dove Body Lotion's Racial Faux Pas
This extremely controversial ad showed an African-American woman turning into a white woman after using the Dove body lotion. Many who watched this commercial perceived it as stating either that being African-American is dirty, or being white is beautiful.
After facing extreme backlash, Dove removed the commercial and said they regretted releasing it in the first place. Dove issued an official apology and removed this bad commercial ad.
3. Ultra Tune's Sexist Savior
This Ultra Tune ad had two model-types jumping around in slow motion trying to get rid of a fire at the back of their car. After the car explodes, a man pulls up. He is there to solve their automotive problems.
This commercial upset the audience with many saying it portrayed women in a negative light by proposing that they needed a man to come and rescue them from mechanical problems.
4. Pepsi's Live for Now Moments Disaster
In this commercial, Pepsi showcased the Live for Now Moments Anthem featuring Kendall Jenner. It's important to nail the tone in a commercial about social justice, which this didn't.
The protesters in the commercial are smiling and dancing during a protest. Overall the advertisement was just absurd, especially because it's pretty safe to say Kendall Jenner hasn't face much social or racial adversity in her life.
5. Bud Light's Up for Whatever
Bud Light's commercial, “Up for Whatever” appeared during the Super Bowl. It seems harmless at first, featuring a man playing table tennis at a OneRepublic Concert with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The commercial itself wasn't the problem, but more so the printed material such as the hashtag #upforwhatever. Many believed that the messages on the beers actually were encouraging people to remove the word “No” from their vocabulary.
Since alcohol has been known to lead to rape or sexual assault cases, in hindsight, it probably wasn't the best advertising choice. Many people were upset by this ad campaign, saying that the company was promoting rape or sexual assault.
The company later apologized and pulled the controversial commercial ad campaign.
6. Nivea – White Is Purity
Nivea is a German skincare line that manufactures antiperspirants, cosmetics, and face creams. When promoting their invisible antiperspirant, they used the phrase “White is purity.”
It had a woman wearing a white top looking out the window with the slogan in blue letters. It was specifically targeted for people in the Middle East which caused many to call it racist.
Many right-wing groups starting promoting the ad saying it was the alt-right antiperspirant. Nivea later withdrew the ad after seeing so many customer complaints about the wording.
7. Peloton Christmas And Chris Noth / Mr Big Ads
We couldn't make a list of the most controversial TV commercials without Peloton! This ad showed a man giving his already fit and thin wife an exercise bike for Christmas. What really upset the audience was the fact that the woman was extremely skinny, and it showed her before and after with her looking skinny either way.
It upset many since they said an exercise bike shouldn't be a gift from your spouse, and it was showing a skinny woman feeling the need to work out. Find out more about this controversial ad and all the thoughts behind the uproar, just check social media or any forum website for all the tea.
The good news behind this one is that the actress in the ad received so much media attention after the commercial aired that she was quickly offered a role in another commercial.
8. LUSH Spycops
LUSH is a company based in the UK that makes handmade cosmetics. They have stores located in the UK and the U.S. The Spy Cops campaign was released to their UK stores and online.
It's about undercover police who go into political groups and form relationships to collect and gather data on people. The ad was raising awareness of police tactics and the problems it causes to families and children.
The problem is that this bad ad commercial came off as extremely anti-police. People became very aggressive in the stores due to the ad, and, ironically, LUSH had to call the police.
After the response it received, the company pulled the controversial commercial ad and released a statement on its website.
9. Carl's JR Au Natural
Carl's JR actually benefited from the outrage created by their commercial Au Natural, which appeared during the Super Bowl XLIX. It featured Charlotte McKinney walking by and giving suggestive looks while wearing a tight bikini and small shorts.
For some reason, all the men in the video are wearing warm clothing as she's walking by. It creates contrast by drawing your attention.
While this commercial ad was successful, it's not recommended to objectify anyone in this manner. This bad commercial could very easily could have backfired on them and sparked controversy.
10. McDonald's Deceased Dad
This television commercial ad starts out with an English boy who has no dad and is going through his dead father's old items. His mom then takes him to the fast-food restaurant where he orders a fish sandwich.
People were upset by this because they felt that the fast-food chain was making a profit off child bereavement. McDonald's later pulled the commercial ad from British TV and issued an apology.
Taking a Look at Controversial Ads
Taking a look at these controversial television ads should show you what you want to avoid when you're ready to create ads of your own. Unfortunately there are plenty of other bad controversial television advertisements and there will be more coming out each year on TV and social media.
Ads are everywhere these days and they do work. But you should really put a lot of thought into every commercial you create for television and the web in 2024. What might be politically or morally correct now might not be in a year or two.
Don't be a future bad ad case study in commercial craziness! If you're ready to learn more about creating ads that will impress your audience, check out some of our other advertising and marketing articles for 2024.
