The Indian market is jam-packed with diverse brands and their ads. Time and again, the marketing strategies of these brands do not let their images go away from the audience’s brains. Every brand has made its persona in the Indian market according to its diverse culture, traditions, ethics, and mindset.
Do you remember the “Happydent ad” or the “Mauka Mauka song”? Yeah! The same ones you are thinking of right now. These ads have marked a great impact on our memories. We always remember such ads.
Brands always position themselves in the mass with moment marketing, topical ads, and cause advertising to stay relevant. However, there are ads that have bamboozled audiences. We have found 3 ads for Indian-favourite brands like Ola, Glow & Lovely, and Zomato. To our surprise, these popular brands have put human emotions through these ads in front of us and still failed to make sense to most of us.
The ad ends with “Meri girlfriend chalti hai 525 per km, but Ola Micro chalti hai sirf 6 per km,” (My girlfriend walks for 525 per kilometer, while Ola Micro runs for just 6 per km). Ola wanted to highlight its new service “Ola Micro” by solidifying the stereotype that girlfriends spend their boyfriends’ riches. This ad communicates as if women don’t need to think about the rates of a cab. However, criticism and remarks compelled Ola to remove the ad.
Glow & Lovely is a rebranded product previously known as Fair & Lovely. In the specific ad, the subtle tone of racism still dangles. However, the brand has repacked itself and removed the word ‘fair’ but the characters are still white-skin women.
In 2017, Zomato went with an outdoor ad highlighting Mac n Cheese and Butter Chicken with infamous profanity (MC and BC). The audience felt Zomota might have crossed the creative line and come up with such an outdoor ad. Nevertheless, Zomato pulled out its ad after a heavy uproar.
In the world of creativity and imagination, creators at digital marketing agencies go with the flow to catch the right tune. At times, their creative tune does not set the right tempo for the audience. Creating stereotypes to disseminate messages or giving subtle touches of sexism or racism to create puns; these tactics do not work in today’s woke world.
How To Choose The Best Digital Marketing Agency For You During Pandemic
How To Drive Business Through Digital Marketing During COVID-19