Stereoptype Messages

“Never insult anyone by accident”
- Robert Heinlein

Using stereotypes and insults in marketing strategies is risky. The editor of Golfweek learned that the hard way this week when he lost his job in the wake of publishing a racially-charged cover.

In a climate marked by racist noose-related incidents, and in the wake of a racist comment aimed at Tiger Woods by a sports journalist, Golfweek featured a noose on its cover. The magazine joins a long list of corporations that tripped up recently in their pursuit of “edgy”. Mozilla launched a viral ad campaign that claimed Firefox users were less likely to have cancer. Toyota took heat for an ad that showed car owners wrecking their current cars (thus committing insurance fraud) so they could buy a new Toyota. Last year Snickers figured out that a lot of people don’t find homophobia funny when they aired a Superbowl ad featuring two men turning violent after accidently kissing. Nationwide Insurance was criticized for an ad that featured Kevin Federline hitting rock bottom as a fast food cook in a way that insulted many in the fast food industry. A few years ago Reebok pulled an ad that featured 50 Cent laughing about the number of times he’s been shot.

Advocacy groups also seek to be “edgy” in ways that can backfire. Last year NYU pulled an ad that treated autism as a kidnapper, complete with disturbing “ransom notes” that were described as offensive by parents and advocates.

A Toyota spokeswoman said this about their insurance fraud ad message: “it’s just trying to be a little edgier than Toyota usually is”. That refrain is repeated by just about everyone at the helm of offensive ads that were pulled. By “edgy”, marketers often mean they incorporate stereotypes into their messaging. Stereotype messaging is big business — just ask the most successful comics, cartoonists, and sitcom writers.

How can advocacy groups get edgy and viral, without getting offensive? The Association of Swedish Advertisers committed this week to creating a special ombudsman to help root out sexist advertising. Just two days ago a government-commissioned report recommended a law “banning advertising containing sexist content”. Ironically, the term “ombudsman” is Swedish in origin and is a fusion of the words “representative” and “man” (the correct female form of the word would be “ombudskvinna”). Sweden isn’t alone in its attempts to regulate bad taste in ads; last month a bill was introduced in the Philippines which would ban ads that “degrade women, glorify sexual violence and promote women’s exploitation”.

Advocates seeking edginess don’t need a set of guidelines as much as they need insight about social justice issues. If you are using stereotypes, you’ll need to fully understand who is the object of your stereotype and what the likely reaction will be. If you’re using provocative imagery, you should explore who will find it provocative and what the impact of that will be. Organizations turn to experts for all kinds of analysis, from web trends to message strategies. It would be worth turning to messaging experts with an expertise in social issues when you wade into controversial marketing techniques. Ad agencies may be able to create a provocative campaign, but they may not be able to spot offensive messaging.

When edgy material works, it’s brilliant. The Apple computer campaigns featuring the PC versus the Mac are a classic. The caveman ads created by Geico were so well received they were made (unsuccessfully so far) into a TV show. Both campaigns use stereotypes as the driving message mechanism, with a substantially different result than Golfweek and Snickers.