On March 23 this year, Belvedere Vodka posted a new ad online for their 1 million Facebook users and 100,000 Twitter followers. The ad was meant to portray the high quality of the spirit but was instead quickly pulled from the sites by Belvedere after severe public backlash.
The image shows a distressed woman attempting to escape the grasp of a smiling man with the tag line: "Unlike some people: Belvedere always goes down smoothly."
The connotations of rape in the image resulted in heavy criticism from viewers and has led the female in the ad taking Belvedere's parent company Moet Hennessey to court. Belvedere itself has since issued a statement claiming the ad is incongruous to the brand's values and immoral. The brand has also donated thousands to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.
In an era where online advertising and social networking between brands and their consumers is an absolute must, the attempts to get noticed are becoming more and more contentious. Advertisers are doing what they can to get attention in a market flooded with brands pushing their 'unique,' 'value-adding' products. These attempts however, are increasingly becoming controversial to the point of inappropriate.
Belvedere has made the mistake of straying from their normally refined image and ignoring the potential consequences of putting material on the Internet that can be easily and quickly accessed by virtually anyone.
Simply because advertisements are posted online as oppose to in the mass media, it does not mean that social and moral values should be ignored. Controversy in online advertisements has a fine line that, when crossed, has the potential to results in expensive outcomes. I am all for advertisers challenging normality and trying to be edgy, but some topics are not meant to be made light of. All brands can learn a lesson or two from Belvedere's mistake.
The image shows a distressed woman attempting to escape the grasp of a smiling man with the tag line: "Unlike some people: Belvedere always goes down smoothly."
The connotations of rape in the image resulted in heavy criticism from viewers and has led the female in the ad taking Belvedere's parent company Moet Hennessey to court. Belvedere itself has since issued a statement claiming the ad is incongruous to the brand's values and immoral. The brand has also donated thousands to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.
In an era where online advertising and social networking between brands and their consumers is an absolute must, the attempts to get noticed are becoming more and more contentious. Advertisers are doing what they can to get attention in a market flooded with brands pushing their 'unique,' 'value-adding' products. These attempts however, are increasingly becoming controversial to the point of inappropriate.
Belvedere has made the mistake of straying from their normally refined image and ignoring the potential consequences of putting material on the Internet that can be easily and quickly accessed by virtually anyone.
Simply because advertisements are posted online as oppose to in the mass media, it does not mean that social and moral values should be ignored. Controversy in online advertisements has a fine line that, when crossed, has the potential to results in expensive outcomes. I am all for advertisers challenging normality and trying to be edgy, but some topics are not meant to be made light of. All brands can learn a lesson or two from Belvedere's mistake.
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