Copywriting strictly refers to texts written for sales purposes. In addition to real gems and slogans that have become cult, we also find examples of creations in which the word and text do not match. Check what texts should not be created
Of course, because it is better to learn from others’ mistakes than to make your own. It is not about a misplaced comma or not good enough sentence formation, but about mistakes in marketing communication. Sometimes it’s not clear what the ad is about, but it also happens that the juxtaposition of words and images creates an incoherent and strange narrative. Still other times – it seems to be disgusting or shocking. However, there will always be defenders of such ads. In defense of exaggerated narratives, it is pointed out that they have succeeded in gaining publicity for an event or product. Was it worth it? The best way to judge is to use examples.
Bad advertising is such an interesting phenomenon that it even lived to see its own festival and award. Of course, Chamlets, as the first and so far only event of this kind was called, was not created to praise the creators. Its purpose was, as we read on the SWPS website: “to draw attention to the frailty of the Polish advertising industry, to the template, reproductive practice of advertising companies, predictability and poor quality of the creative concept”. It is worth adding that Chamlets help to catch many valuable examples of bad copywriting – some of them will appear in the article. Unofficial Chamlet lists have been created for several years.
The advertisement for the assortment of the store “Your Market” certainly does not belong to the successful ones. Good idea, but poor execution? Nothing of the sort. The idea of a reference to the American “candy or prank,” but with candles on the poster, from the beginning contains the promise of compromise. However, one cannot deny the author’s creativity – it is very difficult to reconcile sweets and the Day of the Dead in marketing!
Sometimes, however, it stops being funny – especially when someone exaggerates on a very sensitive topic. In the case of the “Because the soup was real…” commercial, the Advertising Ethics Committee of the Advertising Council intervened. The company Profi, which used the image of a woman rewarded with a flower because “the soup was real”, later apologized for its message. Unfortunately, associations with domestic violence could have affected many people – such topics cannot be joked about even in advertising.
It turns out that an advertising message can offend customers even for a very inconspicuous and useful activity. After all, what could be wrong with laser vision correction? Of course, nothing. Unless, of course, you offend millions of people who wear glasses. The message advertising such vision correction services met with a very bad reception among Internet users. A competing hashtag #glassesonlyoffended has emerged.
Although the handling of intelligent sexual subtext is sometimes considered an asset, sometimes the exaggerated message is repulsive. The worst is when the slip-up happens to an ad agency. Do “assets”, which the company wants to help present to its clients, have to be compared to half-naked female breasts? Definitely not!
Operating controversial content at least several times was associated with the promotion of the energy drink Tiger. Such a caption and a middle finger gesture on a green background have been published in the form of a meme. It would be nothing controversial if it was not for the fact that the meme was published on the 1st of August. Should the anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising be an occasion to produce such content? The brand later apologized for the publication of the graphic
Main photo of the article: photo by Maria Teneva, source: unsplash.com
