In today’s “flat” world – where products and services are easily accessible to consumers worldwide – brands compete not only on quality or price but also on cultural understanding. A seemingly creative and innovative advertising campaign can quickly turn into a disaster when it ignores cultural and ethnic values. Many large brands with huge influence have also paid the price for racial discrimination in their advertisements.
A look back at some ads that sparked controversy over cultural insensitivity
Heinz – Mistake After Mistake (10/2024)
The cultural story in TVCs has long been a hot topic of discussion in the media. Recently, this issue has continued to be a hot topic of discussion, especially after the “slip” in the Halloween advertising campaign of Heinz in October this year – one of the world’s leading famous food brands. Originating from drawing ketchup on faces to create big, messy but happy smiles, expressing the complete joy of users when enjoying Heinz ketchup.
Initially, the ad received positive feedback because the brand made a creative connection between its product and the spirit of Halloween. However, just a few days later, Heinz had to immediately remove the ad because it contained racist imagery. Accordingly, the image of a black man appearing in the ad was reminiscent of “Blackface” and racist musicals from the 19th and early 20th centuries, where white actors dressed up as black people with exaggerated features, often including oversized red lips. Andre Gray, creative director of Annex88, shared on LinkedIn: “Why do we still lack multicultural teams who can thoroughly vet the meaning of an image before it is released to the world?”
This is the second time in a row that Heinz has had to apologize for a racist ad in just a few days. Previously, the brand caused outrage with its OOH ad in subway stations, featuring a wedding of a black bride and a white groom. The absence of the bride’s father, with only her mother attending along with the groom’s parents, sparked controversy. Many people believe that this reinforces negative stereotypes about black families, especially the absence of black fathers.
KFC insensitive to cultural link between fried chicken and black people (8/2023)
The lesson of cultural ignorance also happened with KFC’s “Sorry Utensils” campaign launched in late August 2023. Accordingly, KFC Canada launched a humorous promotional campaign to send its deepest condolences to all the forgotten utensils. A series of humorous images and videos talked about the pitiful plight of the tableware that was constantly neglected at KFC restaurants due to the brand’s fried chicken. The slogan ‘Finger Lickin’ Good’ (Finger Lickin’ Good) associated with KFC since the 1950s was also revived and renewed, making users excited.
“We sincerely apologize to all the eating utensils out there,” a KFC representative said . “Our delicious, crispy, golden chicken has been carefully prepared by the skillful hands of our customers.”
But just a few days after its release, “Sorry Utensils” received a wave of fierce criticism for the reason that the images and messages in the advertisement contained negative stereotypes about black people. Accordingly, the images of black people were reflected through eating utensils with exaggerated expressions, evoking satire, making many people think of the ways black people were depicted in the past through racist caricatures. In particular, the slogan “Finger Lickin’ Good” when combined with the images of black people in the advertisement, was considered an insensitive use of African American Vernacular Language. Many people believe that KFC’s use of such images and language is mocking the culture and way of speaking of black people.
However, KFC’s biggest mistake may have been the brand’s use of black people in its fried chicken advertising. The reason is that fried chicken has historically been used as a satire or stereotype of black people, especially in American culture. KFC’s use of black people eating fried chicken in this campaign has led many to believe that the brand is reproducing a long-standing racist stereotype.
Gucci apologizes for producing balaclava sweaters that mock black people (2019)
Italian luxury fashion house Gucci has also been caught up in a controversy over cultural insensitivity. In 2019, Gucci presented a black balaclava sweater with a pulled-up collar that covered the face, leaving only the mouth exposed with a red border around it, which many people associated with “blackface” artists – a satirical makeup style of black people that was popular in mockumentary performances in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The incident sparked a backlash on social media, particularly from the black community, who felt that Gucci’s actions were not only insensitive but also deeply offensive. In response, Gucci withdrew the product from its stores and website and issued a formal apology. The Italian fashion house acknowledged its mistake and pledged to do more to promote cultural and ethnic diversity in its future designs.
D&G boycotted by the whole of China just because of a pair of chopsticks (2018)
The famous Italian fashion brand Dolce and Gabbana was once at the center of a storm of criticism from Chinese public opinion in particular and the world in general with accusations of racism stemming from a harmless pair of chopsticks in the advertising campaign “DG Loves China”.
It all started with an Instagram video promoting D&G’s The Great Show in Shanghai. In the video, an Asian woman wearing the brand’s clothes is seen using chopsticks to eat European dishes like pizza and pasta, with a mocking, ironic attitude towards using chopsticks. The controversy erupted when the video clip was accompanied by a disparaging caption.
After facing a wave of protests, on November 23, the design duo Dolce & Gabbana posted a video apologizing to the Chinese people on their official Weibo page, with the title written in Chinese, English and Italian.
It seemed that the storm had passed, but criticism continued to explode strongly when a message from an account named Michael Atranova to Stefano Gabbana was revealed. In it, the famous designer used derogatory words to talk about China such as “country of filth”, “stupid”…
Immediately after the “exposure”, D&G clarified that its Instagram account was hacked and that the above messages were fake. However, Chinese netizens did not accept the explanation, saying that it was just an excuse. At that time, according to Jing Daily, “Boycott Dolce” was one of the most discussed topics on Weibo, with tens of thousands of times. Many people posted photos of their clothes being cut, and sales websites and retailers had to remove all D&G products… The brand was dealt a painful blow after accusations of racism and almost lost a billion-dollar market, China, at that time.
Balenciaga boycotted for insulting Chinese customers (2018)
Not only did D&G make serious mistakes in the Chinese market, in May 2018, the French brand Balenciaga was also boycotted for insulting customers in this country.
A scuffle broke out between a Chinese woman and a group of people in front of the Balenciaga store in Printemp, Paris when the woman protested against the group’s inconsiderate jostling. Immediately after, the brand’s staff asked the Chinese customers and the woman to leave the store. The video recording the incident was spread on Wechat, Weibo… Immediately, a wave of fierce reactions from the Chinese people arose.
Despite the apology, the storm of criticism has not stopped. Chinese media has been flooded with images of Balenciaga discriminating against Chinese people. The hashtag boycotting the French brand posted on social media reached 23 million in just 2 days.
H&M’s Racist Shirt (2018)
The beginning of 2018 was a turbulent time for H&M – the world’s leading fast fashion brand. H&M was forced to apologize for using racist advertising images.
The incident began when a blogger accidentally discovered a picture of a black child model wearing a hoodie with the words “Coolest Monkey In The Jungle” printed on it in an advertisement on the brand’s online shopping site. Meanwhile, two other white child models wore a hoodie with no words printed on it and a tiger hoodie with the words “survival expert”. “Monkey” has long been used as a racist term for black people, recalling the humiliation that people of color have suffered in the past.
In just one day, H&M had to close all of its stores in South Africa due to protests, vandalism and a sweep of all H&M stores in Johannesburg – South Africa’s largest city. Similar actions took place in Cape Town. Not only vandalism, many protesters also took advantage of the opportunity to “loot” at H&M stores. The police had to use rubber bullets to intervene.
Starbucks closes more than 8,000 stores over racism allegations (2018)
In April 2018, more than 8,000 Starbucks stores were closed due to a racial discrimination scandal. The incident occurred when two black men were arrested at a Starbucks store in Philadelphia (USA). The store staff discovered the two men sitting in a bar without ordering drinks. They were asked to leave and refused. Shortly after, the police were called and the two customers were arrested.
This incident then sparked a wave of fierce protests against Starbucks in the black community as well as the entire United States. In fact, Starbucks was very quick to resolve this crisis by immediately apologizing and temporarily closing all US branches and corporate offices, and nearly 175,000 company officers and employees participated in an awareness-raising training session to combat racial discrimination.
Lessons from the world-famous “giants” are a reminder that brands, big or small, cannot ignore cultural understanding and sensitivity. Apologies and admitting mistakes may only appease public opinion at that time, but more than that, the brand has to pay a heavy price with the love and trust of millions of customers. So what should brands do to effectively and creatively utilize cultural “materials” without causing offense?
What should brands do to avoid making mistakes?
Building a diverse creative team to see culture in multiple dimensions
To effectively incorporate cultural characteristics into a campaign, the creative team – who will come up with ideas and realize the message that the brand wants to convey – needs to have a deep understanding of the culture, history, and social context of the target groups that the campaign is aimed at. Understanding and respecting cultural elements helps avoid images or messages that may be controversial. In addition, diversity in the creative team when members come from different regional cultures will also bring a multi-dimensional, comprehensive perspective to the advertising campaign.
Consult with ERGs and cultural experts
ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) are networks of people from a common background but from different cultures such as the African American Network (ADN), Asian Impact Network at Medtronic (AIM), Hispanic Latino Network (HLN), Medtronic Women’s Network (MWN), and PRIDE Network… They are a great source of validation for cultural campaigns by commenting and evaluating the appropriateness of the campaign. People from different communities can provide honest feedback and quickly detect culturally sensitive elements.
In addition to ERGs, brands can seek out cultural experts – people with expertise and extensive knowledge to assess the accuracy and appropriateness of the campaign. From there, brands can make timely adjustments and changes before launching the campaign to the public. It can be said that checking and censoring culturally sensitive elements should be done at every stage of the campaign, not just at the ideation or production stage.
Listen to feedback from the community
Community feedback is a testament to the success or failure of a campaign, and also the answer to whether the brand is using cultural elements appropriately. After the campaign launches, the brand needs to monitor public feedback on media channels to detect any negative reactions early. In the event that there is feedback about sensitive or offensive elements, the brand should quickly admit its mistake and adjust the campaign or provide an appropriate explanation, demonstrating respect and commitment to customers.
Conclusion:
From the hard lessons of Heinz, KFC and Gucci, it is clear that a lack of cultural understanding in advertising campaigns can have serious consequences, not only damaging the brand image but also losing the trust of customers. To avoid making the same mistake, brands need to build a diverse creative team and have a thorough review process, ensuring that each campaign respects the cultural values of the target audience. From the voice of the ERGs community, assessments from cultural experts or feedback from the public, brands can recognize inappropriate cultural elements to adjust and change to be more appropriate.
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