Adidas: Boston Marathon email
“Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon!”. This is what Boston Marathon finishers received in 2017 from the shoe and sports attire company Adidas, following the tragic 2013 Boston Marathon bombing when three people were killed and more than 250 people were injured.
Had it been any other fitness event, the message would have been harmless, even nice, as this phrasing is usually used by people attending sports events. However, in the context of the Boston Marathon, the message was seen as offensive and insensitive.
Adidas apologized for their mistake.
1 thought on “11 Advertising Campaigns That Backfired Spectacularly”
That McDonalds ad was not at all objectionable. In brief for those who haven’t seen it, a boy (maybe 10 or 11 years old) is asking his mom about his dead father. He is not bereaved, he does not even remember his father who died long ago. His mom points out a number of things in describing him. Each time, the thing about the dad is different than the son. (Sharp dresser, shiny shoes, good at sport, all the girls were attracted to him… while the boy notices his shirt untucked, his sneakers dirty, he kicks a soccer ball and flubs it, and some girls passing by only give him a look of disgust). But when they get to McD and he opens his fish sandwich box, his mom says ‘that was your dad’s favorite too’. For the first time he hears something he has in common with his late dad.
Not a thing in the world wrong with that and the people who spend all their time looking for reasons to be offended should get a life. Nobody was using bereavement to sell sandwiches.