5+1 advertising blunder that was caused not by a lack of creativity, but by poor decisions and ignoring the context.
A headline of course exaggerates: the history of advertising is full of examples that are much bigger and more painful than the selected ones. The best marketing textbooks are not written by university professors – but by companies that lost billions on a single bad decision. The five advertising blunders featured in our article really happened, all are instructive, and all point to mistakes that smaller businesses make every day. Just on a different scale.
Coca-Cola – New Coke (1985): Don’t touch what works
In 1985, Coca-Cola did what every instinct should have protested against: it changed its nearly hundred-year-old recipe. Blind taste tests showed that people rated the taste of Pepsi better. The answer: they introduced „New Coke.”.
The market exploded – but not from joy. Thousands of complaint calls came in daily to the company’s lines, people boycotted stores, organized protests began. Just 79 days after the launch, Coca-Cola retreated and brought back the original recipe under the name „Coca-Cola Classic.”.
Sales then skyrocketed – but not thanks to the new product, but because people realized how much they loved the original.
Marketing lesson
Market research provides data, but it doesn’t measure emotional attachment. Before you change a proven element of your product, brand, or communication, ask yourself: what would your customers lose? Not every development is progress.
Gerald Ratner – „Total crap” (1991): What you say sticks
Gerald Ratner ran one of the UK’s largest jewelry chains – thousands of stores worldwide, with hundreds of millions in revenue annually. In 1991, at a business conference, in front of a full house, he jokingly called his company’s products „total crap”:
„How do we sell so cheaply? Because it’s total crap.”
He then added: one prawn sandwich lasts longer than the earrings they sell.
The joke made headlines. The company’s stock value lost £500 million almost overnight. Ratner had to leave, the chain’s name became so „toxic” that it had to be renamed. Gerald Ratner reportedly spent 7 years in bed after the speech…
Marketing lesson
In public, every word you say is a brand message – even if you’re „just” speaking casually. Today, when a single clip can go viral in minutes, this is especially true: never underestimate what your customers buy from you. Humor can backfire.
Pepsi – Kendall Jenner campaign (2017): When the brand speaks down to its own audience
In 2017, Pepsi released a multi-million dollar commercial in which Kendall Jenner left a protesting crowd, walked up to a police officer, and handed him a can of Pepsi – at which point the tension eased, and everyone was happy.
The film immediately caused huge outrage. Amid the Black Lives Matter movement and the social tensions of the time, the ad gave the impression that a soft drink could solve the contradictions of racism and police brutality.
The public found this deeply offensive. Pepsi withdrew the ad within 24 hours and issued an apology.
Marketing lesson
If you communicate with a current social issue, you must precisely understand what that issue means to those you want to reach. Superficial „we get it too” messages backfire. Authenticity is not a costume – and people spot it immediately if it is.
Schlitz beer – The silent quality decline (1970s): Advertising cannot save a bad product
In the early 1950s, Schlitz was the most popular beer in the United States – even surpassing Budweiser. Then management decided to reduce production time and switch to cheaper ingredients to increase profits.
The beer was made faster – but its taste changed. Customers noticed. At first, they just murmured, then they turned away. The company spent on advertising – but the advertising could not cover up the bad product. By the end of the decade, Schlitz had almost disappeared from the market. A once-leading brand became nothing through several mutually reinforcing bad decisions.
Marketing lesson
Marketing can amplify a good product – but it can kill a weak one even faster. If you cut corners on quality, your customers will figure it out sooner or later. The best advertisement is a product that people voluntarily talk about to others.
Dove – The „racist” advertisement (2017): Multiple checks are not a luxury
Dove published a short Facebook video for its body lotion in 2017. In the clip, a black woman took off her clothes – and a white woman appeared in her place. The rapidly changing images suggested, as if illustrating the before-and-after effect of the ad.
What the creators of Dove did not realize: the visual evoked exactly the centuries-old racist logic that white skin is „cleaner.” In response to the outrage, Dove deleted the ad – but the image had already circulated the world and became a worthy counterpart to H&M's infamous campaign photo from 2018, featuring a black boy wearing a „Coolest monkey in the jungle” hoodie.
Marketing lesson
As the saying goes: ”The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Campaign elements should be tested as widely as possible before they become public. What seems harmless or a good gag within the internal team may convey a different message from the outside. Multiple checks are not bureaucratic slowdowns: they are much more about preventing unexpected reactions.
+1 domestic advertising blunder: Cargomoda – Clae shoes by the Danube (2019)
In the spring of 2019, the Cargomoda clothing company photographed the new Clae shoe collection on the banks of the Danube in Budapest, in a way that strongly evoked the Shoes by the Danube visual world of the Holocaust memorial.
The photos appeared on online platforms – and within hours, outrage erupted. The comment sections filled up, the press picked it up, and the company was forced to apologize.
What is truly instructive: probably no one had malicious intent. Someone simply chose a „picturesque, waterfront” location – and did not check what it meant. This is what most of these mistakes have in common: not malice, but carelessness.
Marketing lesson
What you see as spectacular may be sacred to others. Avoid context blindness: „I didn't know” won't protect you from a PR disaster. Before you take photos, shoot advertisements, or choose a campaign location, do a quick background check on the site; this can save you from a weeks-long reputational crisis.
What do all six have in common?
Well-meaning people made decisions whose consequences they did not assess. It was not malice that caused harm – but carelessness, haste, context blindness, or the short-sighted pursuit of profit.
The good news: most advertising blunders are preventable. It doesn't always require focus group research: an extra pair of eyes, a cultural check, a sincere internal question: „How do outsiders see this?” – often that's enough.
The most expensive advertising blunder is one that should never have happened. This is one of the reasons why it's worth studying advertising history 🙂
Do you know of a similar domestic case? Write it in the comments – the best examples may be included in a future article.
Csaba's further writings on the marketing secrets blog can be read here.
