Brands have tons of great ideas, but sometimes they have some terrible ones. In these next few examples we will take a look at some of the worst PR blunders in recent years! Some of these really make you wonder how so many people had to approve them and didn’t catch the big mistakes.
1. Kendall Jenner and that Pepsi ad:
During one of the most divisive times in our country’s recent years, Pepsi decided it was they who could repair the brokenness among us with a simple Pepsi soda. Almost immediately upon release, the masses took to Twitter to vent their disgust for the untimely and downright distasteful ad. The company ended up pulling the ad after just one day and issuing a public apology.
2. Gap Kids “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle” Sweatshirt Controversy
For obvious racial reasons, this hoodie drew tons of negative attention and had many people arguing on Twitter over whether it was an intentional slur or not. While certainly inappropriate, the mother of the model came out in support of the company saying that she took no offense and did not believe it had any double meaning behind it. However, the public was not satisfied and H&M Kids pulled the hoodie from their stores and website and issued an apology.
3. Facebook’s Distasteful VR Launch
Shortly after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, Mark Zuckerburg debuted Facebook’s new VR tool they were working on. He and a colleague were shown as these cartoon characters while the background was devastated Puerto Rico. At one point, Zuckerburg said, “One of the things that’s really magical about VR is that you can get the feeling you’re really in a place.” After this comment he and his cartoon colleague high-five. This was the icing on the cake for the distasteful video. The public did not appreciate his lack of empathy and opportunistic approach to the situation. He later publicly apologized but is still recovering from the blunder.
4. Apple’s Battery Blues
Recently it came out that Apple was draining their older model iPhones after the newer models were released. Needless to say, people were not happy. They were dubbed dishonest and not trustworthy. Apple has had a nearly blemish-free reputation up to this point so they were definitely on clean-up mode after this situation. They issued an apology and began offering new batteries at the affordable price of $30. Do you think they did enough? Tell us in the comments.
