The top ten marketing failures in 2019!

Think back, you must still remember several particularly impressive marketing "crashes" this year, and many of them even came from many brands that have previously been called "old drivers." If you are not careful, even the "old drivers" will fail... Let's review the top ten marketing failures in 2019.

01

Veteran driver: The reason for the collapse of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank: Taking advantage of the fire martyrs

At the end of March, the forest fire in Liangshan, Sichuan attracted much attention, and 31 firefighting heroes died heroically. Against this background, on April 2, a poster from Pudong Development Bank’s Credit Card Center announcing that it would waive outstanding credit card balances for martyrs of the Liangshan fire was widely forwarded on the Internet. The poster clearly stated that a certain martyr was a credit card holder of Pudong Development Bank, and the Pudong Development Bank Credit Card Center decided to waive all outstanding payments for him. The number and amount of donations made by employees to the martyrs were also announced.

This behavior of Pufa Bank was criticized by a large number of netizens. At the same time, some netizens complained that because firefighters are in a high-risk profession, their credit card applications were repeatedly rejected, but afterwards they used the policy of waiving all debts as publicity.

Under heavy criticism from netizens, Pudong Development Bank Credit Card Center had to issue an apology letter. It said that this picture was produced by the propaganda department and emphasized that it was only circulated among personal friends.

02

Veteran driver: The reason for KFC's failure: Striptease ad "pays tribute" to Mother's Day

At the end of April, KFC released an advertisement to "pay tribute" to Mother's Day, but it was called "eye-catching" by everyone.

In the TVC, Colonel Sanders changed his image of a kindly old grandfather and transformed into a sexy male model, performing a striptease. "KFC Grandpa" transformed into "KFC Guy Grandpa".

What does Mother's Day, an originally great holiday, have to do with striptease? Is it possible that the cultural differences between China and the West are too obvious? Netizens also complained: They are obviously cooking chickens, why did they suddenly start cooking ducks?

KFC wants to be younger, but have they forgotten that there are still many children dining in their restaurants?

03

Veteran driver: The reason why Durex and Heytea failed: using copywriting to break the bottom line

On the annual 419, the old driver Durex has made a move again. This year on 419, Durex found many brands such as Heytea, Ele.me, and Tao Piaopiao, and launched the "419 Sleepless Night" cross-border marketing campaign on Weibo. However, one heavy-tasting poster after another directly pushed the "old driver of marketing by leveraging the situation" off the altar...especially this one from Heytea.

Regarding the connection between cheese milk cap and semen, most netizens said they were "disgusted". This forced Heytea to apologize to netizens, demonstrating what it means to turn marketing into crisis public relations.

After Heytea’s poster copy caused huge controversy, Durex also urgently replaced several other equally controversial posters with large-scale copy.

Left is before replacement, right is after replacement

After this incident, Durex suffered a heavy blow, and its "old driver's failure" became a classic negative example.

04

Veteran driver: The reason why Hema Fresh failed: the copywriter was "uneducated" and dug a hole

Not only can marketing by taking advantage of a situation fail, but a brand’s own carefully planned marketing events can also fail at any time. HEMA Fresh planned a "Republic of China Market" event in April. It was originally a good idea, but a sentence on the poster - "Let prices return to 1948" caused great controversy.

Anyone with a little historical knowledge knows that 1948 was one of the most famous periods of inflation in modern Chinese history, with prices soaring and people suffering. With what happened with Hema, it may be that the copywriter really didn’t learn history well.

Fortunately, Alibaba’s public relations skills were so great that even the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League had to come out and give its praise, thus defusing the crisis. It is a classic example of "negative score for marketing but full score for public relations".

05

Veteran driver: The reason why Qibenwei Japanese food store failed: it spent millions on marketing but did not have a business license

In May, Ergeng Video made a video for a popular Japanese restaurant called "Qibenwei". "No packaging of ingredients", "No mass production", "Eat within one minute", etc. Ergeng successfully created a "ruled" setting for Qibenwei.

According to the publication rules of Ergeng Video, the marketing cost this time is over one million, which is definitely a huge investment. But the original million-level marketing turned into a "crash accident".

Smart netizens began to dig out all kinds of negative information about Qibenwei, including that it was originally an unknown small shop and the chef cooked with hands covered in sores. What was even more unbearable for consumers was that Qibenwei did not have a business license or food license, instantly exposing the true face of this "Internet celebrity restaurant."

06

Veteran driver: The reason why Coco Tree Coconut Juice failed: "Drinking it since childhood" suspected violation of advertising law

Coco Tree coconut juice, a brand that is a memory of childhood, has changed its packaging. The phrase "drinking it since childhood" coupled with the busty spokesperson Xu Dongdong has sparked a lot of imagination.

In February this year, netizens questioned the slogan "Drink from childhood to adulthood" and positioned the product as a "breast enhancement magic tool", and even dragged the spokesperson Xu Dongdong into the water.

After causing considerable controversy, the official Weibo account of Hainan Coconuts Group issued a statement saying that the slogan "Drink from childhood to adulthood" did not violate the Advertising Law and had been approved by the China Advertising Association.

The topic quickly became the number one hot search on Weibo, which shows that the popularity of Coco Tree coconut juice has not subsided for a whole week.

Although Coco Tree Coconut Juice was eventually "vindicated" and its borderline marketing was not illegal, the brand's reputation was damaged and a certain crisis was caused.

07

Veteran driver: The reason why Wahaha failed: The slogan "Drink from A to D" was accused of being vulgar

Similar to Coco Tree Coconut Juice, Wahaha AD Calcium Milk has the slogan "Drink from A to D". In March this year, the slogan on the bottle of Wahaha AD Calcium Milk caused heated discussion because it was accused of being vulgar and promoting the function of breast enhancement. Amid the questioning voices of the majority of netizens, Hainan’s industrial and commercial department even opened a case to investigate its suspected illegal advertising laws.

The official Weibo account of Wahaha Group responded urgently that the slogan was not an advertising slogan and the content was selected from netizens’ comments. The printing and production of the content that caused ambiguous content has been stopped.

Although the "mudslides" in the advertising industry have always received a lot of attention, brands should avoid taking vulgarity as creativity.

08

Veteran driver: The reason why Jiang Yiyan failed: She won the architecture award but her image failed

Previously, Zhai Tianlin’s image collapsed because of his doctoral degree, and this time, it is Jiang Yiyan whose image collapsed. In October, Jiang Yiyan went to Spain to receive an Architecture Master Award, and then became a hot topic. Many bloggers used the topic #Jiang Yiyan won the architect award# to congratulate her on winning the "American Architecture Master Award".

Soon, netizens discovered that Jiang Yiyan was the owner of the winning work. She just chose a German design team to help her design the villa among design teams from about five different countries and regions...‍

Even after the incident fermented, even her talented woman image and teaching experience were dug up and questioned, and in the end she had to apologize. This is the best example of a tree that attracts the wind...

09

Veteran driver: The reason for Li Jiaqi's failure: the non-stick pan stuck during the live broadcast

Li Jiaqi, the lipstick icon, is the brightest new star this year. During the warm-up period of Double Eleven, Li Jiaqi recommended a certain brand of non-stick pan during the live broadcast, "This is definitely a cheap and easy-to-use non-stick pan!" As soon as he finished speaking, his assistant demonstrated how to fry an egg, and the egg stuck firmly to the bottom of the pan.

Afterwards, Li Jiaqi responded to this "accident" through a video.

The brand’s official Weibo account also issued a statement saying that the product used by Li Jiaqi complies with the production requirements of GB/T 32388-2015 "Aluminum and Aluminum Alloy Non-Stick Pans" and has passed quality inspections, so it can be purchased and used with confidence. It also points out that the following situations may cause the pan to stick: 1. The temperature difference is too large and the pan is put into the pot directly; 2. The temperature of the pot exceeds a certain level (250 degrees); 3. The coating is damaged.

In response to media interviews, Li Jiaqi gave a more detailed explanation and response, including "non-stick after several months of use", "repeated tests for four or five days", and "not putting the blame on colleagues and brands". Li Jiaqi and the brand jointly responded with a consistent tone, and produced product manuals, test reports and other well-founded explanations, which soon gained the understanding of most netizens. Li Jiaqi’s failure even made him appear on the fourth season of "Tucao Conference".

10

Veteran driver: Audi rollover reason: WeChat Moments ad becomes a hot search

On November 13, the biggest news in the advertising circle came. When Audi was running an advertisement on WeChat Moments, the content of the advertisement video actually showed Infiniti, and even the logo and slogan were INFINITI.

Tencent Advertising promptly issued an apology letter after discovering the problem. It turned out that there was an error in uploading the Tencent advertising material. It was a major failure! "202 yuan on the hot search" also became one of the best jokes of the day.

Fortunately, both brands managed to save the situation in time, and their official Weibo accounts teased each other, turning this "car rollover accident" into a "car rollover story."

The above are the top ten marketing failures in 2019. Who do you think handled it well and who was a little wronged?

Author: Jun Xiaobao

Public account: Jun Xiaobao, the most interesting self-media in the public relations and marketing circle!