The world of marketing has graced us with countless unforgettable and controversial campaigns over the past decade, many of which have used shock value to their advantage.
Earlier this year, women’s health brand Elvie sparked a wide online response with its March 2022 billboard campaign. The unique out-of-home advert ‘broke the internet’ with its provocative image of a woman leaking urine as she lifted weights to help raise awareness of women’s incontinence in sport.
But which controversial marketing campaigns have caught the public’s attention most effectively over the years – and did the brands see an upturn in business as a result?
Print marketing and branding expert Solopress analysed the top five most controversial marketing campaigns according to their social media stats…
Always #LikeAGirl – 2015
Feminine hygiene brand Always’ unforgettable #LikeAGirl campaign managed to successfully subvert gender stereotypes and redefine what it means to do something ‘like a girl’.
The advert depicts a casting call with actors being asked to pretend to run, fight and throw ‘like a girl’. Women, men and boys acted out stereotypes, mocking the way they believed women would do these things. In contrast, pre-pubescent girls completed the actions with pride and confidence.
The ad resonated with its audience, with 94% saying the campaign encouraged girls to be more confident. Some 70% of women and 60% of men also claimed that the video changed their perception of the phrase ‘like a girl’.
In terms of social reach and engagement, the advert received 70 million views on YouTube, 20.5 million views on TikTok, 8,700 views on Facebook and 10,620 likes on Twitter, securing it top spot in the best controversial campaigns list.
Positive sentiment reached 96% within three months and purchase intent increased by more than 50% among the target audience.
#LikeAGirl remains relevant today despite being released in 2015, with posts connected to the hashtag receiving 20.5 million views on TikTok.
READ MORE: Durex reminds us that #FitMatters with latest campaign
Gillette #TheBestMenCanBe – 2019
This provocative video-based social media campaign was created in the wake of #MeToo and got thousands talking on social media in a bid to challenge traditional male stereotypes and encourage positive behaviour.
The campaign disregarded the brand’s shaving products to focus on addressing themes of toxic masculinity, misogyny and sexual harassment, showing scenes with men making derogatory comments toward women and young boys fighting each other.
The divisive advert – which has 4 million views on YouTube – sparked serious debate with some viewers applauding the brand’s stance and others viewing the ad as an attack on men.
Among the negative responses was a tweet from Piers Morgan accusing the brand of virtue-signalling, while other responses saw the campaign as a catalyst for positive change.
Despite the differing opinions, feedback was largely positive, with purchase intent increasing by more than 65% among the target audience.
The original post had 11,752 likes on Instagram and 2,100 likes on Facebook. It also gained 203,000 retweets, 76,300 quoted tweets and a staggering 513,300 likes on Twitter, revealing the leverage brand campaigns have to tackle social issues.
READ MORE: Calm OOH poster mocks Boris Johnson’s resignation
Elvie, Leaks Happen – 2022
After its TikTok video of a woman leaking urine as she lifted weights was banned by the platform for being too ‘graphic’, women’s health brand Elvie launched a 20ft billboard using the same imagery.
The #LeaksHappen campaign featured water coming from the London-based billboard to confront the taboo of urinary incontinence and clap back at social media censorship around the issue.
The innovative, head-turning billboard and social media campaign is an excellent example of a brand creating a purpose-led campaign centred on an issue relevant to its brand values and product offering.
Since the campaign was launched, Elvie’s behind-the-scenes video of the billboard instillation has received 1.9k views, with content attached to #LeaksHappen topping 3 million views on TikTok.
In marketing terms, driving the the discussion on urinary incontinence has clearly been a success.
From a business perspective, the campaign has also been hugely valuable, with searches for Elvie Curve and Elvie Trainer reviews increasing by 60% and 70% respectively, according to Google Trends.
READ MORE: Risqué Dash Water ad banned from TfL network
Weetabix, Beanz on Bix – 2021
The infamous Weetabix Beanz on Bix campaign that achieved ‘meme’ status won’t be forgotten in a hurry.
Playing on the typical ‘food inspo’ style of Weetabix posts but with a controversial twist, the campaign opened with an image of a Weetabix covered in Heinz Baked Beans, much to the horror of social media users everywhere.
The social media campaign garnered a phenomenal response thanks to an onslaught of other brands responding on Twitter.
Ford declared “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should” with an image of beans all over the boot of a car, while Specsavers, went for the classic “If you can’t beat them, join them” approach, with two pairs of glasses covered in beans.
Even the NHS got in on the action, saying that the original tweet should have “come with a health warning”.
Weetabix’s original post on Twitter instantly blew up, gaining 36,300 retweets, 68,800 quoted tweets and over 130,000 likes.
The timeliness of the campaign – which came out six weeks into a national lockdown where audiences were looking for humour and comfort – is likely to have contributed to its success.
Why should bread have all the fun, when there’s Weetabix? Serving up @HeinzUK Beanz on bix for breakfast with a twist. #ItHasToBeHeinz #HaveYouHadYourWeetabix pic.twitter.com/R0xq4Plbd0
— Weetabix (@weetabix) February 9, 2021
READ MORE: Burger King roasts its fast-food rivals with latest OOH campaign
KFC, FCK – 2018
This iconic print campaign from KFC aimed to mitigate damage to the brand as it apologised for a chicken shortage which forced hundreds of UK stores to close in February 2018.
The image – which ran as a full-page ad in national news publications including Metro and The Sun – featured an empty chicken bucket with FCK replacing the traditional KFC branding on the front.
Prior to the advert, Brandwatch data had revealed that on one day alone there were 53,000 social media mentions of KFC running out of chicken, many of them linked to hashtags including #ChickenCrisis and #KFCCrisis.
At the same time, YouGov’s BrandIndex showed that KFC’s ‘buzz score’ – which measures positive and negative brand sentiments – dropped by 20 points to -24.
However, the brand managed to avoid any long-term damage, with the adverts resulting in 700 press articles and TV discussions; reaching a combined audience of 797 million globally.
While KFC initially used print media for its perceived higher trust metrics, within three months, 219 million social media users had also been exposed to the advert.
As such, the campaign achieved a reach of over 1 billion in total.
KFC’s recovery could be seen by YouGov’s consumer brand impression score, which had dropped from 57 to 49 initially before climbing back up after the advert made its mark across the UK.
Credit where credit’s due – spectacular ad from KFC in The S*n today
(via @TaylorHerringUK) pic.twitter.com/1GwmVxLuSe
— joe (@goulcher) February 23, 2018
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