One of the major issues with advertising is the audience’s ability to decode a message properly. People may assume that with all the research done before the advertising process even begins that the message behind the ad will be clear, but sometimes that’s not the case. There have been a lot of ads over the years that had to be pulled because the audience got the wrong message from the ad and were outraged; companies never mean to have a negative message in an ad, but sometimes the possibility flies right over their heads. The question is, is this an acceptable excuse?
I came across a few ads that had to be pulled because audiences decoded the message incorrectly and were upset at the message they thought the company was sending. One of those ads was the 2007 ad for the new look of Apple desktop computer. At first glance, I actually thought the ad was a good ad, but after reading the text my opinion changed immediately. The ad says: “The new Mac. You can never be too thin. Or too powerful”. The ad was trying to express to the viewers that the new look for Apple desktops is very thin and fun, but instead it seems like the ad is encouraging weight loss and saying that weight and power go together “hand in hand”.
Of course this ad made people angry, especially organizations like National Organization for Women (Now) that deal with body images issues a lot. The ad was eventually pulled and Apple released a statement apologizing and explaining that the message was not intended to be about body image/weight, but was this enough?
It’s true that we all make mistake in our professional careers at time, but when is it not acceptable. Personally I think that companies like Apple make too much money to make mistakes like this. The fact that Apple is not the only company to have made mistakes like this is startling. We need to do better!
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