When big brands mishandle culture, it’s a commercial disaster.
TV advertising has come a long way since its inception in the 50s. In those days, snappy slogans and straightforward sales pitches were the bread and butter of most marketing campaigns. Thankfully, today’s audiences aren’t so easily swayed. They’re tired of being ordered around by their TVs, so, in an attempt to reconnect with a jaded viewership and create some semblance of sincerity, companies have started pulling from the cultural landscape and forcing their brand into the trends and controversies of the day. Put simply: they try to “get real”.
Much like an aging teacher trying to relate to their youthful class with misused slang and “hip” references, the result is often laughable and just a bit sad. Here are some of our favourite moments of advertisers trying to keep culturally relevant with, let’s say… varying degrees of success:
There’s a handful of characteristics attributed to the — vaguely defined — Millennial generation that tends to attract the sharp end of society’s jokes. After all, how can you not laugh at a generation of oversensitive, entitled, awkward recluses? Now, of course I’m not serious, it’d be silly to suggest that any single stereotype actually holds water in reality. Except, that’s exactly what the Armed Forces have done in their recent string of recruitment ads. What’s more, they’ve tried to appeal to Millennials with the same stereotypes normally used to insult them!
It feels frustratingly condescending to see the Army call out for compassionate “Snowflakes”, driven “Binge Gamers” and focused “Phone Zombies.” Almost as if nobody behind the campaign had met an actual Millennial before, and instead drew an outline of the generation from the perspective of their out-of-touch grandparents. These stereotypes represent the main issue with the campaign. Not only are they played out cliches at this point, but they’re inherently derogatory in a way that the Army seems unaware of. At the very least the campaign’s core message redeems it, with the Army claiming to look past outward appearances, and instead, into the recruit’s character. This makes them far from the worst offender on this article.
Gillette — as far as I know — is a company primarily concerned with grooming and hygiene products. So why their “The Best Men Can Be” campaign earlier this year tried to climb aboard the toxic masculinity and male gender roles conversation, is beyond me. The 2 minute short film plays out like a greatest hits album of toxic masculinity, a compilation of male guilt. In its final moments, it ends by trying to assure and inspire us that “it’s all okay” because “We KNOW you can be better than this.”
The advertising blunder doesn’t lie in their efforts to inspire men, but rather in how they imply that we’re all harbouring some kind of masculine monstrosity that needs to be constantly held back from terrorising the folks around us. What baffles me further is how they seem to suggest that their range of shaving products has any significant role in being able to fix these issues. Are they warning us of some sinister power in facial hair that’s secretly been the cause of these societal problems all along? Should we be shaving the evil away? Hell, I don’t know; there’s got to be some logic behind it. Unfortunately, Gillette isn’t making it very clear from this advertising endeavour.
When it comes to companies touching on social issues, no recent campaign has garnered as much controversy as the Kendall Jenner Pepsi advert, and it’s easy to see why. Starting with its non-specific, city-wide protest free from any actual agenda, to its exclusively young, attractive and strangely cheerful participants; Pepsi clearly wanted to evoke the timely “Black Lives Matter” movement without having to portray its grittiness or run any risk of association. As for the protesters themselves, a handful of picket signs and the presence of police were the only real indicators that they were protesting anything at all.
Other than that, the dancing, music and posing for photos gave the impression that this whole thing was just a sort of well-protected music festival. The advert hits its stride just after the halfway point, when everyone’s favourite, Kendall Jenner, abandons a photoshoot to join the festivities. We watch her stride through the hordes of protestors, exchanging a couple of “yeah, you’re one of us now!” nods and fist bumps as she goes, before picking up a can of refreshing ice cold Pepsi and approaching one of the stoic police officers. She hands it to him and struts away as he takes a sip, prompting the entire city of protestors to erupt into cheers and celebration, as if to collectively say “YEAH, WE DID IT EVERYONE! WE WON!”
This advert has some more concerning issues than the silliness of Kendall Jenner as a figurehead for this vague, undefined cause; and the inexplicable unifying effects of Pepsi. It trivialises the protests happening on American soil, and encourages the idea that protesting isn’t something done for a cause, but merely “for the fun of it.” I would also like to mention that despite this advert being known as “Kendall Jenner’s” advert, I don’t think her part of it is especially egregious. It’s a shame that she ended up becoming the scapegoat for its mistakes.
Advertising is going to continue to develop alongside us and the world we live in. So whilst it seems companies probably won’t stop trying to squeeze themselves into parts of culture where they don’t belong; I think audience backlash and the poor reception of adverts like these three, will direct them to be more mindful of what they’re really saying and implying about these hot button issues when they choose to appropriate them in the future. Although, if you ask me, It would be so much simpler if the days of mascots and jingles could make a comeback. A man can dream…
