To Fail or Not to Fail…

What do beer, pancakes and basketball have in common? They have been the subject of epic brand fails during 2015. From Budweiser’s tacit encouragement of date-rape, to IHOP’s backhanded compliment to flat chests to Under Armour’s trivialising of the battle of Iwo Jima, these brand stirred hornets’ nests’ of angry and disgusted social media goers.

How can these brands, and more specifically these CMO’s, do something so stupid?’ Was they accidents or simply cases of poor taste? Given the size and scale of the aforementioned brands it is was more likely the latter. Although taste is an extremely subjective concept, there are some clear lines in the sand that should not be crossed, particularly if crossing these lines will put your brand into territory that in fundamentally at odds with its positioning. Trivialising an issue or event that a brands consumers or a brands influencers hold dear is sure fire tactic not only to cross the line, but to pole vault across it — something that all of the aforementioned brands were profoundly guilty of.

That said, does this mean that brand should not push the bounds of convention? Should a brand’s custodians take a stand on issues at the risk of angering a large segment of its consumers? Where are the lines that separate bold, crazy and inconsiderate? Have a look at the campaign from Honey Maid, a campaign that elicited both visceral detraction and spirited acclaim — I’ll let you be the judge…