Burger King and Fox Sports combine to produce an animated feature for the Oct. 11 NFL pre-game show that made very cruel fun of Jessica Simpson’s recent weight gain. A few days later, the apologies were flying as sports talk radio shows reacted with shock. And trust me, it takes quite a bit to shock a sports talk radio host.
Meanwhile, Pepsico energy drink Amp introduces an iPhone app designed to give guys lines to help pick up girls – while dividing the girls into stereotyped groups like “nerds,” “treehuggers” and “cougars.” Once again, apologies fly – though not to everyone’s satisfaction. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-talk-pepsi-iphone-appoct15,0,7961157.story
While all of this is going on, the French edition of Vogue releases its newest issue with a cover photo of a white (a very white) European model painted black. Understandably, many people are very upset. Haven’t yet heard of a Vogue apology, though they have released statements saying they are surprised by the reaction.
The interesting thing is, I don’t browse the iPhone App Store, I missed the aforementioned Fox NFL pre-game show and I don’t read the French version of Vogue. Yet I knew about all of the above controversies. How? All three were also featured national news stories last week. Meaning Burger King, Fox Sports, Amp Energy Drink and French Vogue all got a bunch of national coverage for which they didn’t pay a dime.
Was that the plan all along? Hard to say. But Burger King certainly hasn’t been a stranger to controversy lately (Whopper Virgins, Texican Whopper, Spongebob/Big Butts, etc.). The whole youth energy drink category seems to spend most of its time on the edge. And I sincerely doubt this is the first time French Vogue has ruffled feathers.
I’m not saying that any of these were deliberate acts of provocation. But I’m also willing to bet that none of the marketing or editorial executives at these companies are losing a whole bunch of sleep tonight over their respective dust ups. Is Fox going to lose any NFL fans or will Burger King sell any fewer Whoppers because of a national outburst of sympathy for Jessica Simpson? What do you think? Are the testosterone-laden young guys who make up the primary market for Amp Energy Drink going to walk away over an iPhone app with pickup lines? Sure, as soon as they’ve finished downloading it. Will French Vogue lose readers or advertisers over their latest cover? Don’t know. Maybe. But what will they gain in extra newsstand sales and attention from people who have never bought French Vogue but now are looking for it just to see how controversial it really is? Again, hard to quantify, but they probably consider it a fair exchange.
What does it all mean? Maybe that controversy isn’t such a bad thing, as long as it doesn’t totally contradict the tenets of your brand or assault the sensibilities of your core audience and/or customers. Bad taste usually isn’t good. Questionable taste, on the other hand, can get you on CNN. And if you’re Amp Energy or French Vogue, maybe even reinforce your brand.
