Anybody catch the offensive Hyundai ad during the U.S.-England soccer game last Saturday?
I was a bit shocked, but not offended, at the one with the European widow standing over the coffin of her husband–dressed soccer fan gear–but I apparently stepped away from the TV or turned the channel when they aired one with Argentinian fans receiving pizza like it was Communion.
Hyundai, according to the Wall Street Journal, was surprised by the "unexpected negative response" and pulled the ad.
The theme of the commercials was brand loyalty, and the ad creators were turning around things that people are ordinarily loyal to–marriage, religion–and making them about soccer. A clever idea and in best light perhaps it compliments religious people for being loyal (I admit, I'm stretching it in trying to give them the benefit of the doubt).
But clearly, it was poorly executed, which makes me wonder, if they didn't want to offend anybody, wouldn't they have simply asked a sampling of Catholics what they thought?
Where's the line for you? Was the whole commercial a failure? Or if they hadn't done the pizza/Communion swap would it have been an OK concept?
