The poison gas: A showreel of controversial ads

For legendary ad man George Lois, advertising is poison gas.

Some gases are meant to be inhaled – these advertisements evoke product benefits, nostalgia, an emotional bond with customers. Other forms are rather toxic, with implications toward both individual self-esteem and  society as a whole – trumping the promise of the brand, or sparking thought-provoking questions from more critical ‘target audiences’.

Inhale. Exhale. Advertising in. Advertising out.

Execution completed. Message delivered.

Stir created. Controversy received.

The following are six recently released – or banned –print and television advertisements deemed either too controversial for their racial and sexual overtones, or praised for their frank boldness.

“Tibet”, Crispin Porter + Bogusky for Groupon

The Crispin Porter +Bogusky “Tibet” spot for Groupon during the Super Bowl XLV began with noble intentions. As actor Timothy Hutton spoke of the perils faced by the rich Tibetan culture, postcard-worthy images of Tibet and its people provided the appropriate mood for this seemingly worthy endeavor. However, everything changed when the frame shifts to a Tibetan man moving towards the camera – the Tibetan was actually a restaurant waiter serving Hutton his ordered fish curry. “And since 200 of us bought on Groupon.com,” the actor revealed, “we’re getting $30 worth of Tibetan food for just $15.”

Groupon CEO Andrew Mason, in Alan Farnham’s “Groupon’s Controversial TV Commercial”, defended that the company “[took] the suffering of Tibet seriously and intend[ed] to raise money for the Tibetan people [through The Tibet Fund and SaveTheMoney.org].”

Though the ads were supposedly for a charitable cause, the public took offense and labelled the ad as racist. In Sandra Fish’ “Groupon’s Tibet Ad: When Edgy Goes Overhead”, Friend of Tibet – San Francisco Chapter President exclaimed that “[the advertisement] wasn’t funny. It felt like it was something degrading for the Tibet cause.”

A similar Groupon “Save the Money” ad, this time involving actor Cuba Gooding Jr. and whale conservation, received an equal amount of public attention.

“KKK vs Afro”, McCann Lowe Brussels for Luxor Hot Tubs & Saunas

Advertising giant McCann Lowe Belgium shocked the world with their “KKK vs Afro” print ad for Luxor Hot Tubs and Saunas. Released in August 2009, the print ad perhaps depicted the most unlikely hot bath buddies of all time.

An all-afroed up black man shares the same bath space with a member of the notorious, all-lynching white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). They lean back, side by side, in perfect comfort – with no trace of any tension from either.

Thousands have criticized the ad as downright unrealistic.  But what makes this ad so popular is its boldness to portray mortal enemies smiling and sharing personal space together.

Be it going too far or just being playful, Lowe Belgium surely had done its job well. Luxor Hot Tubs are so comfortable, it seems, that not even racial disputes or sitting beside a racist sociopath become enough to stop anyone from relaxing in a bubbly paradise.

“Unhate”, Fabric Treviso for United Colors of Benetton

A nun and a priest sharing a passionate kiss, a deathbed of a man dying because of AIDS, and a newly-born and bloodied infant still connected with its umbilical cord. These are but a small sampling of print ads released by French-based clothing brand United Colors of Benetton (UCB).

And last 2011, new sets of print were added to the controversial ads family for  UCB’S Unhate Foundation, a group that aims to create a uniting force that will stifle the global “culture of hatred” for good.

The ad campaign features the digitally-altered lip-locking moments of powerful world and religious leaders.  Some prominent tandems included in the campaign are: US President Barack Obama and leader of the People’s Republic of China Hu Jintao, President Obama and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, North Korean and South Korean leaders Kum Jung Il and Lee Myung Bak, and the most controversial one, Pope Benedict XVI kissing the Egyptian leader, Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb.

The portrait of the Pope and the Imam was eventually removed by the Benetton group due to a torrent of opposition from Catholics, and an order from the Vatican itself.

“What’s your mix?”, Bayo

The subject of controversial advertisements has been on the hot seat these past few months in the Philippines: Bayo’s latest ad campaign, What’s Your Mix.

The first phase of the What’s Your Mix ad series features a collection of beautiful mixed-race models whose pictures are boldly captioned with their ethnicity percentage. Model Jasmine Curtis’ mix, for example, is “50% Australian and 50% Filipino.”

A manifesto escorting the models’ portraits stated that the ad “is all about MIXING and MATCHING. Nationalities, moods, personalities and of course your fashion pieces. Call it biased, but the mixing and matching of different nationalities with Filipino blood is almost a sure formula for someone beautiful and world class.”

The wordy manifesto was clearly misunderstood by the public.  Days after the prints’ release, the public  roared with tweets, blogspots, and status updates expressing disapproval toward the ads.  Some Netizens depicted it as a degradation of Filipino blood, and that “beauty” was only for those who are “gifted” with foreign blood. On the contrary, some more positive individuals thought that the ads simply celebrated the beauty that Filipino blood naturally brings to a person.

In an effort to extinguish the fire, Bayo, through a public apology, stated that the true and initial target of the ad was to take pride of being Filipino and that being one will always make one beautiful. The public apology expressed Bayo’s sincere regret and apology “for those who had been offended or discriminated against.”

The What’s Your Mix campaign, according to Vice President of Bayo Lyn Agustin, “was meant to be a three-part series rolled out over the next few months with the intent of celebrating nationality, heritage and personality mix.” A week after the release of phase 1, the second and third phases were publicly released. Jasmine Ann Curtis’ version is 50% Tagalog and 50% Ilongga” and “50% Nice and 50% Naughty,” respectively.

“Come as you are”, BET Euro RSCG for McDonald’s

Perhaps one of the most controversial ads ever produced for the fast food leader McDonald’s by advertising agency BET Euro RSCG was released in 2010. The “Come As You Are” ad became the first McDonald’s commercials directly targeting gay people as a market.

The ad features a teenager and his dad dining in McDonald’s. While his dad orders food, the male teenager is shown gazing at his gay lover in a class photo. The teenager then phones his lover and tells him that he misses him.

The father then returns with a tray laden with food and asks the teenager if he may look at the class photo. While looking at the photo, the father then remarks, in French, that “It’s a shame you’re in an all-boys college. You would have had all the girls chasing you.” His son just smirks and acts as if he knows something that his father does not.

Though the ad’s release was limited only in France, videos of the ad were uploaded in popular video-sharing site YouTube and quickly garnered a massive number of views due to its controversial content. Viewers as far as the United States soon criticized and pondered the real meaning of the ad through blogs and video comments.

Whatever anyone might say about the ad, McDonald’s stressed its sole intention was to show how the fast food chain welcomed people from all walks of life.

“Sorry Thailand”, JEH United for Positive Network

The year 2010 was a time of political unrest for Thailand in the “Battle for Bangkok”, which pit the ‘red-shirts’ (from the Union Front for Democracy against Dictatorship and Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship) against the yellow-shirt People’s Alliance for Democracy. A military crackdown after months of demonstrations resulted in the deaths and injuries of thousands of protesters from both sides.

However, after the turmoil, the nation once again turned silent. Perhaps in a bid to reignite the ‘soul of the nation’, Positive Network, a group of Thai communications experts, spearheaded an advertisement campaign that drew on scenes from the recent battles.

Created by JEH United Ltd and directed by the award-winning Thanonchai Sornsriwichai, “Kor Thod Pra Thet Thai” (Sorry Thailand) shows graphic footage of burning buildings, raging politicians, unruly protestors, and a torn flag. With “Auld Lang Syne” playing in the background, a voice-over narration encourages the viewers to contemplate on their choices and seek forgiveness from their beloved Thailand.

“If we want to blame, we’re all guilty together,” the voice-over declares. “Thailand, we apologize.”

The noble announcement was aired only once. The Thai Censorship Committee declared that “Sorry Thailand” had sensitive and violent content, enough grounds for the advertisement to be banned. The message, however, spread. The controversial ad and news of the ban hit the headlines and went viral online.