Wednesday, October 23, 2013

The Bad: “Shoot your Girlfriend”- Panasonic





This ad does not look so bad when you first look at it.  Yes its kind of rude but some people like that type of humor.  To each his own.  But when you find out a little more about the girl that appears in it you understand why many others and I have deemed it BAD.   The “girl friend” that appears in the ad is Reeva Steenkamp the deceased girlfriend of Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius.   Oscar shot Reeva multiple times and killed her.   There is still an investigation going on to determine if it was an accident or not.  The situation is not something to joke about (or is it?  What do you think?).

Luckily for Panasonic this ad was never used.  The ad was presented to Panasonic but was quickly shot down (thank goodness).   Unfortunately for Panasonic the ad was leaked to the media recently and it did not go over well (obviously).  Let’s take a look at the effectiveness of this advertisement if it was used:

Is it effective?

NO!  Yes it gets people talking about their brand but not in a positive way, which leads me to the next question.

Does it stimulate a positive response?

NO!  People have very strong feelings about domestic violence (GIRL POWER) and by making light of killing someone it infuriates them and leads to controversy.  Negative opinions about the brand and boycotting are what I predict would happen if this ad was used.

Does the target market view the offer favorably? Why?

NO!  This ad does not do much when it comes to having a favorable offer to it’s target market, even when you don’t know about Reeva.  Yes, it’s a nice picture but the tagline is off-putting.  The ad as a whole does not show the camera to be unique and interesting and definitely not favourable.

In closing, Panasonic was right in rejecting this ad but I would suggest that next time they have a horribly insensitive ad pitched to them they destroy all evidence! Maybe even shoot the pitcher (that was bad, I know).


Agree, disagree or have something to add? Leave a comment I would love to hear from you!


P.S. Just remember….



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