Well-meaning business owners, product managers and marketers often make decisions that sound great on paper but aren’t field tested to ensure they actually will play in Peoria.
Classic recent examples from the brand hall of shame include last year’s attempt by Pepsi to create a #BlackLivesMatter party/parody ad, and last week’s Lady Doritos (you think they would have learned from the Lady Bic Pen debacle of a couple years ago, but I digress…).
More recently, closer to home, two additional examples of tone-deaf marketing have caught my attention. Feel free to tell me I’m just being far too sensitive, but this is how I see it.
To the east of downtown Seattle, in Issaquah, sits a car dealership named Evergreen Ford. Been there as long as I can remember, and they’re a regular traditional media advertiser.
In January they rolled out a new ad campaign featuring a local country singer’s custom-made song and jingle. It’s