Worst Marketing Campaigns 2022

You can run a successful marketing campaign – or launch one that fails miserably. Keeping up with the competition is tough, and when a brand doesn’t align with a customer’s values, it can quickly backfire.

Creative ideas can sometimes steer you off course, so it’s essential for businesses to recognise and correct mistakes early on. In this blog, we’ll explore the worst marketing campaigns of 2022 and highlight a few notable ones, helping you understand what to avoid in your own strategy.

Marketers use a variety of techniques, including bold or ‘shock’ style posts. When done right, these can significantly boost engagement. But if done poorly, they can lead to disaster. So, is all publicity really good publicity? Take a look at these campaigns, widely viewed as the worst of 2022, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Image: https://www.macrumors.com/2022/10/19/hp-laptop-ad-shows-macos/

Windows and macOS have been the two leading PC systems for many years, making them long-time rivals. However, HP’s recent marketing campaign took an unexpected turn by suggesting that macOS is actually the “best laptop” platform.

In their advert, HP showcased a new laptop—featuring a screenshot from macOS. The campaign referred to it as “The Perfect Laptop,” but the image clearly displayed macOS running on the screen. This implied that the perfect laptop is one that uses Apple’s operating system.

Someone in HP’s marketing team made a major Photoshop error. The advert stated: “For the digital nomads and work-from-anywhere-but-home types (yeah, we see you), HP has perfect laptops for wherever you’re working from.” Naturally, people expected to see a Windows interface. Instead, the screen showed a Gmail inbox open in Chrome with an Apple logo clearly visible in the menu bar.

For those unfamiliar with the issue, Apple’s licensing strictly limits macOS to Apple hardware. Only the Hackintosh community installs macOS on non-Apple PCs, and even then, it’s unofficial. Since HP and Apple don’t collaborate, this ad blunder was simply an embarrassing oversight.

Image: Yahoo

Tampax has recently tried to follow the trend of funny Tweets like Aldi. However, their Tweet went massively wrong and no one found it funny, and it has gone viral for ‘sexualising’ women. The tampon company’s US arm wrote: “You’re in their DMs. We’re in them. We are not the same.”

The statement “you are in their direct messages,” which refers to communicating romantically online, is followed by the words “I am…”, which typically concludes with a boastful comparison. Instead, it says that I have something better than what you have. More than 46,000 people have shared, and more than 360,000 have liked Tampax’s tweet.

Users weren’t pleased, and Tampax later posted a comment saying, “Refused to let Twitter go down before we released this tweet,” which added fuel to the fire. Thousands of women were advised to stop purchasing Tampax products as the hashtag #BoycottTampax became popular. Many people called the tweet “creepy,” pointing out that girls as young as nine can get periods. In contrast, others criticised the corporation for “alienating” its client base by not using gender-specific pronouns and not specifically referring to women.

Although the Tweet was supposed to be funny and lighthearted, people did not find the Tweet funny and found it quite disturbing. Since the following Tweets, Tampax has apologised.

Image: Leicestermercury

An advertisement from a Leeds-based burger restaurant, The Otley Burger Company, faced a ban after using a photo of Madeleine McCann to promote its business. The ad sparked widespread outrage for being deeply offensive and insensitive.

On 27 March, the company shared images of Madeleine and her mother, Kate McCann, on social media with the caption: “With burgers this good, you’ll leave your kids at home. What’s the worst that could happen? Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums out there.”

The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) received three complaints stating the post was likely to cause serious offence and emotional distress. As a result, the ASA asked Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to remove the posts and suspend the associated accounts due to the level of public concern.

The Otley Burger Company, which had around 7,000 Instagram followers at the time, responded to backlash by confirming that the advert had been taken down and would not be reposted. Twitter removed the original tweet, and Meta reported that it had also deleted the Instagram post after reviewing it for policy violations. Following this, a more detailed investigation of the brand’s Instagram account led to the removal of further content and the introduction of account restrictions.

The background of the removed advert showed a man jogging while holding a small image of Madeleine McCann. According to the ASA, this imagery made light of her disappearance and trivialised a serious and sensitive news story involving alleged child abduction.

In the end, although the company believed the post was humorous and effective marketing, the public strongly disagreed. The backlash highlighted the dangers of shock advertising that crosses ethical lines—and in this case, it failed spectacularly.

Image: Marketingweek

Brewdog launched an effective campaign before the World Cup in Qatar, claiming that they are the “Anti-sponsor” of what they refer to as the “World F*cup” because of the appalling human rights violations in Qatar.

While it agreed with what they are saying, social media users have not been blind to their hypocrisy in pointing out the corruption in Qatar’s World Cup bid. In contrast, they announced on Instagram that they would use the World Cup to draw more customers to their pubs by broadcasting every game.

Brewdog CEO Watt responded to accusations of hypocrisy made against his business by writing on Twitter, “If a little bit of Twitter hate is the price we have to pay for raising awareness of the human rights in Qatar and the obvious corruption of FIFA, then so be it.”

The audience has seen through the company’s “equal rights” scheme, and it hasn’t changed its mind about showing every World Cup game in its pubs.

Image: Highsnobiety

Balenciaga’s festive ad campaign featured young children holding teddy bears dressed in provocative outfits. It sparked immediate backlash and was quickly pulled. The hashtag #cancelBalenciaga began trending on Twitter and TikTok as the images spread across social media. Many people accused the brand and its creative director, Demna, of promoting paedophilia and child exploitation.

One image showed a bag from Balenciaga’s collaboration with Adidas. It was placed on top of what appeared to be court documents from the United States v. Williams case. These documents upheld the PROTECT Act, which expanded federal protections against child pornography. The brand launched this ad on 21 November to promote its spring/summer 2023 collection. Both the teddy bear photos and the court document imagery quickly fuelled conspiracy theories. They also became talking points among conservative commentators.

Balenciaga responded within a day. The company released two statements via Instagram Stories. It expressed regret over the inclusion of “unsettling documents” in the spring/summer campaign, as well as the use of plush bears in the festive promotion. The brand admitted the items “should not have been featured with children in this campaign.”

Balenciaga is known for pushing boundaries with its advertising and runway shows. In the past, it featured models walking through snow and mud while wearing high-end fashion. However, after the backlash from this campaign, brands should now consider how far they can go to “shock” their audiences – without crossing the line.

We can take away one thing from all these marketing blunders: campaigns must be carefully planned. It would be best if you ensured that your intended message is received clearly throughout your efforts.

Any company or brand can benefit greatly from going viral or becoming a meme, but only if you do it for the right reasons.

The greatest approach to ensure your marketing strategy’s success is careful planning and innovative concepts. All of these issues can be resolved with Interact! So speak with us immediately to prevent failure in your marketing efforts.