{"id":38013,"date":"2011-05-12T13:12:30","date_gmt":"2011-05-12T19:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/?p=38013"},"modified":"2015-12-29T14:09:16","modified_gmt":"2015-12-29T20:09:16","slug":"15-controversial-pulled-ads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/15-controversial-pulled-ads\/","title":{"rendered":"15 Controversial Pulled Ads"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/montage.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"pulled ads\" width=\"500\" height=\"700\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-38023 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/montage.png 500w, https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/montage-214x300.png 214w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 500\/700;\" \/><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding: 0px 0px 0pt 0pt; float: left;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/digg.com\/tools\/diggthis.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 5px 5px 5pt 5pt; float: left;\"><a name=\"fb_share\" type=\"box_count\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Share<\/a><script src=\"http:\/\/static.ak.fbcdn.net\/connect.php\/js\/FB.Share\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 0px 2px 0pt 0pt; float: left;\">\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/tweetmeme.com\/i\/scripts\/button.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<p>Ads are often meant to provoke the viewer (think baby-faced Brooke Shields with nothing between her and her Calvins) but sometimes viewers feel a little too provoked.  Here is a list of fifteen controversial advertisements that were pulled due to negative reactions.<br \/>\n<!--more--> <\/p>\n<h2>ICBC Anti-Drunk Driving Campaign<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DUI.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"DUI\" width=\"500\" height=\"511\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-38019 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DUI.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DUI-293x300.jpg 293w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 500\/511;\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ga-dui-attorney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/felony-dui.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p> \u2028<br \/>\nBack in May of 2010, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, Canada, Police Services and the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles launched an ad campaign comprised of three ads that compared getting caught driving under the influence to getting caught doing something else embarrassing.  Like, for example, police catching you measuring <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/video\/player.html?category=News&#038;zone=canada&#038;site=cbc.news.ca&#038;clipid=1506127237\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">your manhood.<\/a>  The campaign, which was aimed at men ages 19 to 25, sported a tagline that read, \u201cSome things you don\u2019t want to be caught doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sure, someone catching you measuring yourself is awkward, but a DUI?  \u201cAwkward\u201d is an understatement, and was considered by some to be such a trivialization that the committee, at the behest of former solicitor-general Kash Heed, decided to pull the ad after only a few days because of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vancouversun.com\/news\/Drunk+driving+campaign+pulled+because+controversial+ICBC+says\/3084650\/story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">controversy<\/a> that arose.  Surveys had found that men in that age group feared getting caught drinking and driving more than they feared getting killed in an accident.  \u201cThe strategy,\u201d Nicolas Jimenez of ICBC told the Vancouver Sun, \u201cwas to build a campaign around situations you wouldn&#8217;t want to get caught in, then hit them with the message: Don&#8217;t get caught drinking and driving.\u201d  Seems logical but many of the law enforcement officials in British Columbia were \u201cuncomfortable\u201d with the themes.    The government has promised that future public service advertisements against drunk driving will be more\u2026 palatable.   <\/p>\n<h2>Rachel Ray for Dunkin&#8217; Donuts<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><object width=\"480\" height=\"385\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/_FI14XMdTmg?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US\"><\/param><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"><\/param><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"><\/param><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/_FI14XMdTmg?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"480\" height=\"385\"><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<p>In 2008, Rachel Ray, queen of the quick and easy meal, fairly inoffensive person all things considered, shot what seemed like a pretty simple commercial for Dunkin&#8217; Donuts coffee.  But Dunkin&#8217; Donuts <a href=\"http:\/\/www.boston.com\/ae\/celebrity\/articles\/2008\/05\/28\/dunkin_donuts_yanks_rachael_ray_ad\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">yanked<\/a> the ad suddenly after an outcry from some, namely conservative Fox News commentator Michelle Malkin, over what appears to be a paisley scarf Ray wears as she chats about coffee.<\/p>\n<p>The scarf is actually what is known as a <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Keffiyeh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">keffiyeh<\/a>, which is traditionally worn as a headdress by Middle Eastern men and was widely worn by Palestinian nationalists during the Arab revolt of the 1930s.  Many viewers, including Malkin, saw this as an egregious statement of support for jihadists.  Dunkin Donuts issued a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hollywoodgrind.com\/rachel-ray-dunkin-donuts-scarf-controversy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">response<\/a> stating, \u201cIn the ad that you reference, Rachael is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design that was purchased at a U.S. retail store. It was selected by the stylist for the advertising shoot. Absolutely no symbolism was intended. However, given the possibility of misperception, we will no longer use the commercial.\u201d  Melkin was pleased, but then promptly turned her to attention to the hoards of celebrity keffiyeh-wearers and the pseudo-hipster clothing purveyor Urban Outfitters.   <\/p>\n<h2>Verizon Ad<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><object width=\"480\" height=\"385\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/f7hiUrTy6vU?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US\"><\/param><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"><\/param><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"><\/param><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/f7hiUrTy6vU?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"480\" height=\"385\"><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<p>Maybe 2008 was a bad year for advertising ideas.  Just a few months after Ray\u2019s controversial coffee outfit, Verizon found itself in some hot water over an advertisement for an LG Dare phone.  The ad showed a man leaping over a fence to get his hands on a Dare \u2013- only to be greeted by two chained, snarling <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloggingstocks.com\/2008\/09\/08\/ads-gone-bad-dog-lovers-not-so-fond-of-verizon-ad\/?partner=aol\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pit bulls.<\/a>  Dog lovers were enraged by the depiction of the harsh treatment of the animals and reacted.<\/p>\n<p>Paging People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals!  The infamous animal rights group tried to get Verizon to pull the ad by outlining the reasons why it was offensive, but Verizon stayed firm.  Finally, PETA released an action alert.  When the company was inundated with 7,000 <a href=\"http:\/\/forums.joerogan.net\/showthread.php?t=73679\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">emails<\/a> from incensed PETA supporters, they finally canceled the campaign.   <\/p>\n<h2>Motrin<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><object width=\"480\" height=\"385\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/wekT-SvAeew?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US\"><\/param><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"><\/param><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"><\/param><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/wekT-SvAeew?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"480\" height=\"385\"><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<p>The pain reliever Motrin launched a slightly snarky ad campaign targeting moms who &#8220;wear&#8221; their babies (you know, in like, papooses, Baby Bjorns, or baby Snuggie things) during International Babywearing Week (yes, such a thing exists).  The ad gave a nod toward the benefits of wearing your baby, including that it gives you maternal street cred, but it also pointed out that the act was tough on mommy&#8217;s muscles.  Apparently this didn&#8217;t sit well with the baby-wearing moms (and some dads) of the world, many of whom took to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.walletpop.com\/blog\/2008\/11\/16\/motrin-tries-to-get-on-moms-side-misses-horribly\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">twitter,<\/a> their blogs and YouTube to inform the world they would never, ever use Motrin again.<\/p>\n<p>After the parental blogosphere erupted, the drug manufacturer McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a division of Johnson and Johnson, pulled the ad and released a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2008\/11\/17\/AR2008111703280.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a>.  &#8220;With regard to the recent Motrin advertisement, we have heard you . . . please accept our sincere apology,&#8221; said the company\u2019s vice president of marketing Kathy Widmer.  The moral of this story?  Don\u2019t piss off moms with computers. <\/p>\n<h2>Captivity Film<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/captivityposterbig.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"captivityposterbig\" width=\"500\" height=\"730\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-38016 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/captivityposterbig.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/captivityposterbig-205x300.jpg 205w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 500\/730;\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/wp\/wp-content\/images\/captivityposterbig.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p> \u2028<br \/>\nDon\u2019t sweat it if you don\u2019t remember the release of the 2007 film Captivity or even, dare I say it, the actress Elisha Cuthbert.   The Saw <a href=\"http:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/captivity-movie-poster-revealed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rip-off<\/a> barely made a splash in the film world but the original posters for the film, which depicted Cuthbert being abducted, confined, and tortured, were deemed by many to be unnecessarily gratuitous and condoning of violence towards women.  Thirty billboards were erected in the Los Angeles area as well as 1,400 ads on top of New York taxicabs.  The studios producing the project, Lionsgate and After Dark Films, claimed that the ad campaign was launched by <a href=\"http:\/\/defamer.gawker.com\/hollywood\/captivity\/annals-of-ill%20conceived-outdoor-movie-advertising-the-captivity-billboards-245382.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">accident.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;To be honest with you, I don&#8217;t know where the confusion happened and who&#8217;s responsible,&#8221; Courtney Solomon of After Dark Films stated.  All the advertisements were removed within a week and replaced with a tamer version of Ms. Cuthbert submerged in sand.  Smells like an ill-conceived shock-marketing campaign\u2026 that clearly didn\u2019t pan out.<\/p>\n<h2>Burger King&#8217;s &#8220;Texican&#8221;-Style Whopper<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><object width=\"480\" height=\"303\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/mNabO2d-zbw?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0\"><\/param><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"><\/param><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"><\/param><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/mNabO2d-zbw?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"480\" height=\"303\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<p>Back in 2009, ad execs for Burger King had to develop a campaign to promote the fast food conglomerate&#8217;s new Texican-style burger &#8212; a spicy version of the beloved Whopper.  So naturally, these creatives came up with idea of having a tall, gangly Texan cowboy move in with a Mexican dwarf wrestler, and thus was born the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.paulanealmooney.com\/burger-king-mexico-ad-video-heres-burger-king-mexican-ad-that-was-pulled-for-controversy\/213\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">commercial<\/a> that many Mexican nationalists called \u201ca whopper of an insult.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even bigwigs weighed in on the controversy, what with Mexico\u2019s ambassador to Spain writing a letter of objection to the company and stating publicly that the ad \u201cimproperly used the stereotyped image of Mexicans.\u201d  People were also outraged that the teeny Mexican\u2019s cape resembled the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/money\/2009\/04\/14\/2009-04-14_mexico_protests_europe_burger_king_texican_whopper_advertisments_use_of_mexican_.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">flag<\/a> of their nation, which they consider a symbol of national pride and something to be treated with the utmost respect.  This wasn\u2019t the first time the nation felt belittled by a fast food chain\u2019s ad campaign: Mexicans were also angered by the use of that funny little Chihuahua who acted as Taco Bell\u2019s spokes dog in the 1990s. <\/p>\n<h2>KFC&#8217;S Health Ads<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/kfc.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"kfc\" width=\"500\" height=\"460\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-38021 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/kfc.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/kfc-300x276.jpg 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 500\/460;\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kfcchickenrecipe.com\/images\/kfc-chicken-menu.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Chicken mavens Kentucky Fried Chicken released a series of ads in 2003 touting the health benefits of items on their menu.  The ads, sporting the befuddling tagline, \u201cYou\u2019ve got what KFC\u2019s Cooking!\u201d, pitted the nutrition of one of their lowest calorie options, \u201cOriginal Recipe\u201d fried chicken breasts, against the stats of a Burger King <a href=\"http:\/\/www.slate.com\/id\/2090861\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Whopper.<\/a>  Some knowledgeable people, including the head of the Center for Public Science, found these claims \u201cdeceptive,\u201d and stated that even though the fat and carbohydrate content cited by KFC was approximately correct, they neglected to mention the high sodium content of the food.  A review columnist for Ad Age called the campaign \u201cdesperate and sleazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The company held fast at first, claiming that they were just trying to \u201ceducate\u201d the public as to how you could include fried chicken in your healthy diet (?!) but eventually relented to growing pressure and ordered their national and local franchises to pull the ad, citing reasons of <a href=\"http:\/\/adage.com\/article?article_id=38857\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cbrand protection.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n<h2>KFC Australia<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/kfc2.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"kfc2\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-38022 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/kfc2.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/kfc2-300x168.jpg 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 500\/281;\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kfcchickenrecipe.com\/images\/kfc_chicken_recipe.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Poor KFC just can&#8217;t catch a break &#8212; or maybe just write an inoffensive advertisement.  Kentucky Fried Chicken released an ad in Australia that featured a white man surrounded by a black crowd at a cricket match.  \u201cNeed a tip when you&#8217;re stuck in an awkward situation?\u201d says the befuddled <a href=\"http:\/\/www.freerepublic.com\/focus\/f-news\/2423302\/posts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">white guy<\/a> before having a fried chicken-related epiphany and sharing his bucket with his fellow cricket fans.  The message struck many viewers as racist and the ad was yanked shortly thereafter. <\/p>\n<p>KFC, though, owned by Yum! Brands, which was named one of the \u201c40 Best Companies for Diversity\u201d in Black Enterprise Magazine for the fifth year in a row in 2009, was ever so slightly defensive about their \u201cCricket Survival\u201d campaign.  The company claimed that the tone of the ad was \u201ctongue-in-cheek\u201d and that most of the protest was heard in the United States, where the ad was never supposed to run.<\/p>\n<p>Even the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/news\/world\/2010\/01\/07\/2010-01-07_kfc_australia_pulls_controversial_ad.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> New York Daily News <\/a>, obviously based in the States, took a poll in which 65% of respondents said they thought the ad was \u201cjust lighthearted and fun.\u201d  Some people are just so sensitive.  <\/p>\n<h2>Miami Anti-Islam Bus Ads<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/refuge.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"refuge\" width=\"500\" height=\"153\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-38024 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/refuge.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/refuge-300x91.jpg 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 500\/153;\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/barthsnotes.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/04\/refuge-from-islam.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Pre-Ground-Zero-Mosque controversy, Robert Spencer of the Stop Islamization of America Group purchased ads on the sides of public buses in the county of Miami-Dade in Florida.  \u201cIs your family or community threatening you?\u201d the ad read before offering a link to Refuge From Islam, a website listing resources for people considering leaving Islam.  Spencer <a href=\"http:\/\/barthsnotes.wordpress.com\/2010\/04\/14\/miami-bus-ads-ask-ex-muslims-fatwa-on-your-head\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">publicly stated,<\/a> \u201cWe wanted to show that some people will stand up against violent intimidation, some people will stand up for religious freedom in America.\u201d  Funny considering many of the \u201cresources&#8221; listed at <a href=\"http:\/\/freedomdefense.typepad.com\/leave-islam\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Refuge from Islam<\/a> are Christian.<\/p>\n<p>Just two days after the ads went up, however, The Miami Herald reported that Miami-Dade Transit decided to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/2010\/04\/16\/1581903\/miami-dade-transit-says-it-will.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pull<\/a> them because they were potentially offensive to Muslims.  Spencer and SIOA fired back, citing the allowance of an ad for <a href=\"http:\/\/volokh.com\/2010\/04\/19\/anti-islam-bus-ads-in-miami\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GainPeace.com<\/a>, a service that provides information about Islam, and also this tiny little thing called the Constitution.  They were set to go to court when Miami-Dade backed down.  Similar campaigns have been launched in other U.S. cities \u2013- to similar outcry. <\/p>\n<h2>Sony PSP White<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/sony_whiteiscoming_ad_large.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"sony_whiteiscoming_ad_large\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-38025 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/sony_whiteiscoming_ad_large.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/sony_whiteiscoming_ad_large-300x225.jpg 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 500\/375;\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.blogcdn.com\/www.joystiq.com\/media\/2006\/07\/sony_whiteiscoming_ad_large.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Fresh from another controversial campaign featuring <a href=\"http:\/\/www.joystiq.com\/2005\/09\/30\/the-passion-of-ps-vatican-calls-sony-ad-irreverent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">religious imagery<\/a>, Sony PSP decided to invoke provocative imagery of another kind.  Billboards in the Netherlands announced the coming of their latest model, the PSP White, with the \u201cracially charged\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.joystiq.com\/2006\/07\/04\/ad-critic-sonys-racially-charged-psp-ad\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">image<\/a> of a model with the complexion of snow grasping the jaw of a young black woman.  People reacted immediately and internationally: California Assemblyman Leland Yee and NAACP members in the videogame capital of San Jose\/Silicon Valley called for an immediate discontinuation of the campaign.<\/p>\n<p>At first Sony came to the ads defense claiming no racial subtext, but eventually pulled the ads and released this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.engadget.com\/2006\/07\/12\/sony-pulls-psp-white-is-coming-ads-in-netherlands\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">apology-esque<\/a> statement: \u201cWe recognize that the subject matter of one specific image may have caused concern in some countries not directly affected by the advertising. As a result, we have now withdrawn the campaign.&#8221; <\/p>\n<h2>Absolut&#8217;s Mexico Ads<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/absolut.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"absolut\" width=\"500\" height=\"429\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-38014 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/absolut.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/absolut-300x257.jpg 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 500\/429;\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2251\/2383371667_df5fc24e2d.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Perhaps as retaliation for the Burger King Ads, Absolut Vodka released a campaign in 2008 that showed a revamped map of the United States.  The map was of the territory before the Mexican-American war of 1848 when California was known as \u201cAlta California\u201d and <a href=\"http:\/\/latimesblogs.latimes.com\/laplaza\/2008\/04\/mexico-reconque.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was part<\/a> of Mexico.  Absolut, a Swedish company, said that the ad was relevant to Mexicans, some of whom still resent the loss of California, and would tap into their national pride.  The line beneath the map read, \u201cIn an Absolut World,\u201d implying that more Mexico and less America would make a happier world.<br \/>\nThis is all well and good, but Absolut should never have underestimated the power of the American consumer.  People North of the border were enraged, and Absolut felt their heat.  Absolut <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/story\/0,2933,346964,00.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">apologized<\/a> profusely and said that even though the ad was only shown in Mexico, they understood that it was insensitive to its neighbor.  They also <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/idUSN0729018920080409\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pulled<\/a> the ad. <\/p>\n<h2>Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/holocaust.jpeg\" alt=\"\" title=\"holocaust\" width=\"500\" height=\"305\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-38020 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/holocaust.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/holocaust-300x183.jpg 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 500\/305;\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/boingboing.net\/2009\/09\/08\/harvard-crimson-runs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>You\u2019d think Harvard students would be smart enough to avoid denying the Holocaust, but apparently not.  Not only do they deny it, but every so often, they advertise their denial!  The undergraduate paper Harvard Crimson ran an <a href=\"http:\/\/boingboing.net\/2009\/09\/08\/harvard-crimson-runs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">advertisement<\/a> for Bradley Smith on behalf of the Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust that asked students to provide \u201cwith proof, the name of one person who was killed in the gas chamber at Auschwitz.\u201d  The ad was up for a measly one day before the paper pulled it and offered their apologies, claiming a lapse in communication due to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecrimson.com\/article\/2009\/9\/9\/holocaust-ad-printed-in-the-crimson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">school vacation<\/a> was the reason for the error.   <\/p>\n<h2>Anti-Obesity Ad<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/beatobesity.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"beatobesity\" width=\"500\" height=\"188\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-38015 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/beatobesity.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/beatobesity-300x112.jpg 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 500\/188;\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.blogcdn.com\/www.thatsfit.com\/media\/2008\/10\/ad-beat-obesity-with-a-stick-calorielab.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In the liberal enclave of the Bay Area of Northern California, an advertising company called Kaiser Permanente launched a campaign to target childhood obesity.  They decided their campaign would hinge on the word &#8220;beat&#8221; &#8212; as in &#8220;beat obesity.&#8221;  To that end, they designed a billboard emblazoned with the slogan &#8220;Beat Obesity with a Stick&#8221; against a background of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thatsfit.com\/2008\/10\/14\/beat-obesity-with-a-stick-are-you-cool-with-this-ad\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">celery sticks.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Size-acceptance groups (and not, surprisingly, domestic violence or child abuse victims) were enraged by the ad, saying that they had often been the target of bullying, physical and verbal, as a result of their size.  The ad, they said, was therefore offensive and ought to be pulled.  (Trying so hard not to make a joke about \u201cthrowing one\u2019s weight\u201d into a movement right now).  They won in the end, with Kaiser assuring the PR director of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance that the ads would be <a href=\"http:\/\/groups.yahoo.com\/group\/naafanews\/message\/276\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">discontinued.<\/a> <\/p>\n<h2>Visit Denmark<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/denmark.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"denmark\" width=\"500\" height=\"396\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-38018 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/denmark.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/denmark-300x237.jpg 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 500\/396;\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.travelooce.com\/pics\/swedish-girls.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In an effort to attract more tourists, the tiny Baltic nation of Denmark decided to launch a viral marketing campaign to highlight their national treasures \u2013 this means, of course, their tall, easy Nordic women.  The ad shows a blond woman holding a baby and telling the camera that the father of the baby was a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnngo.com\/going-too-far-most-controversial-tourism-ads-549579\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tourist<\/a> whose name she couldn&#8217;t recall.  Many people (mostly men) were tickled by the advertisement, but many were not.  Danish Sociologist Karen Sjoerup <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2009\/09\/15\/denmark-tourism-ad-pulled_n_287352.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> the ad implied, &#8220;you could lure fast, blond Danish women home without a condom.&#8221;  The video was pulled \u2013\u2013 but not after it received over 800,000 hits on YouTube. <\/p>\n<h2>Daisy<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/daisy.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"daisy\" width=\"500\" height=\"372\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-38017 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/daisy.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/daisy-300x223.jpg 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 500\/372;\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/static\/managed\/img\/Politics\/propaganda38.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And last but certainly not least, perhaps the most famous pulled advertisement of all time: the one in which the cute little girl playing with a flower gets BLOWN UP!  The advertisement shows a little girl plucking petals off a flower and counting as she does, but soon her voice is drowned out by a louder, more robotic, masculine one counting down from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=63h_v6uf0Ao\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ten.<\/a> The camera zooms in on her face before an atomic bomb explodes, and presumably, adorable little girl and flower are decimated.<\/p>\n<p>The ad, which was for the presidential campaign of Lyndon Johnson, ran <a href=\"http:\/\/www.livingroomcandidate.org\/commercials\/1964\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">only once<\/a>, on September 7th of 1964 during an NBC Monday Night movie. Despite its lack of air time, it made an enormous social impact.  It contributed to the landslide victory of Johnson over Barry Goldwater and remains an iconic American image today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Share Ads are often meant to provoke the viewer (think baby-faced Brooke Shields with nothing between her and her Calvins) but sometimes viewers feel a little too provoked. Here is a list of fifteen controversial advertisements that were pulled due to negative reactions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":38023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[7010,7099,5305],"class_list":{"0":"post-38013","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-ads","9":"tag-controversial","10":"tag-toparticles"},"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38013"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61655,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38013\/revisions\/61655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}