July 17th, 2009
The news:
Last year’s Orangina campaign displaying animals with human bodies enjoying life and the ‘naturally juicy’ drink was heavily criticised by the British audience which found the sexual innuendos of the ad inappropriate.
While the French seem to have enjoyed the sexual tension and the nice visual effects of the ad, Britons found them rather disgusting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_KP8tN-Cb4
July 3rd, 2009
Culture Shocks – Textappeal Blog Retrospectives Summer 2009
The news:
Dubai: Two Britons, who were accused of having sex on a Dubai beach, were sentenced to three months in jail by the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours on Thursday (July 2008). They were also issued an order to be deported and fined 1,000 dirhams. They couple were charged with indecent behaviour as well as with having sex outside of marriage – serious acts under the Muslim laws of the United Arab Emirates.
June 29th, 2009
When unchecked for cultural resonance, names can take on unintended meanings and damage the brand they are designed to promote.
June 18th, 2009
LONDON ADVERTISING and Textappeal have created a ‘Global Marketing Sentiment Index’ – the first ever global survey of sentiment in the marketing community as to what stage of recession they feel their market is in.
Given the importance of marketing expenditure as a bellwether in highlighting overall economic trends, LONDON tasked Textappeal’s network of over 100 local strategic planners around the world to ask this question in their respective territories and provide feedback. The initial result of the Index is -0.3 (on a scale of -5 to +5) indicating that the decline of the world economy is seen to have slowed almost to a stop. The survey will be repeated each quarter to track movements on a local and global basis.
May 20th, 2009
Louis Mariette is a world renowned bespoke hat designer, with famous followers such as Jerry Hall, Sophie Dahl and Jodie Kidd. His work is that of a sculptor and creator, and he has a winning, charismatic personality that has also turned him into a TV personality.
April 20th, 2009
The news
“Don’t bring the next Mao into the world. Use a condom.”
Following an outcry in China, Doc Morris Pharmacies has officially apologised to the Chinese government over an ad representing Mao as a sperm cell.
Two other ads represent Hitler and Osama Bin Laden as human spermatozoids to promote the use of condoms.
The campaign appeared only in Germany, but was picked up by Chinese bloggers and the Communist Party’s People Daily.
Last year following similar protests, car-maker Citroen apologized to China for a Spanish campaign portraying Mao.
April 15th, 2009
The news
The ambassador of Mexico in Spain issued a formal protest to Burger King after the airing of a TV commercial in Spain.
He said that the commercial: “improperly used the stereotypical image of Mexicans” to promote the Texican, a flame-grilled Whopper topped with taco-coated chilli con carne and spicy jalapenos.
The Texican is described in the commercial as “the taste of Texas with a little spicy Mexican”.
It shows a tall Texan cowboy living with a short Mexican wrestler. The print ad version shows the short wrestler wearing the Mexican flag as a cloak (disrespect to the Mexican flag is considered an offense in Mexico).
The Ambassador Jorge Zermeño asked Burger King to pull the ad and also apologise for offending Mexican cuisine.
March 19th, 2009
The News
An ad for the film “Wanted” showing an “almost naked” actress Angelina Jolie shooting and kissing has been banned in the UK by the official British advertising watchdog (ASA).
The ASA says in its ruling:
“The ad (…) depicted several guns being fired by both the male and female leads and (the ASA) considered that, in conjunction with the on-screen text and voice-over that stated “Angelina is blazingly sexy” and “The coolest movie of the year” the overall impression was that using guns was sexy and glamorous. We concluded the ad could be seen to condone violence by glorifying or glamorising the use of guns. On this point the ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 6.2 (Violence and cruelty) and 7.4.1 (Mental harm).”
For the full ASA’s ruling: http://tinyurl.com/c4ek35
March 18th, 2009
The news:
On Friday March 6th, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva to help mend ties between the two nations. She gave Mr. Lavrov a mock ‘reset’ button to symbolise the diplomatic attempt – however, the button in Russian actually read ‘overloaded’ or ‘overcharged’ – not ‘reset’ as intended. An embarrassing moment for the new Secretary of State, though both played it off, and in any case pushed the button together. The gift referenced a comment from Vice President Joe Biden on resetting ties withRussia following years of friction.
March 9th, 2009
The news:
Tom Cruise was recently in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to promote his new film Valkyrie. He spoke to the audience with a few words in Spanish, saying ‘hola’ and ‘gracias’ in an attempt to endear himself to the local population. However, he only displayed his ignorance, unaware that in Brazil the population is Portuguese speaking. To add insult to injury, he later expressed his fondness for the tango, which is a Latin dance, not from Brazil, but with origins in neighbouring Argentina.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,487451,00.html