History UnfortunateImplications / Advertising

* An advert for Hyundai's ix35 FCEV variant of the Tucson SUV has a depressed man [[DrivenToSuicide attempt to gas himself]] in his garage, only for his effort to remain futile as the emissions produced by the vehicle are inocuous enough not to kill a person, which was supposedly the main point of the ad, i.e. promote the hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle as having zero harmful emissions. It didn't take long for the Korean carmaker to be harshly criticised for condoning self-harm and suicide methods, with one blogger writing an [[https://web.archive.org/web/20160329130238/http://hollybrockwell.com/2013/04/25/an-open-letter-to-innocean-and-hyundai/ open letter]] describing how the commercial reminded her of her father ending his own life in much the same way. Hyundai later apologised and [[https://jalopnik.com/this-is-the-worst-car-ad-in-history-480853172 took down the ad]] following pressure from advocacy groups.

* Yet another advertisement using highly questionable metaphors to represent a white/black dichotomy: a Dutch billboard for the UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable White featuring [[https://money.cnn.com/blogs/browser/2006/07/sony-psp-ads-spark-cries-of-racism.html a white model violently grabbing a black model's face.]] Sony apologized and pulled the ad in the midst of the backlash. Guru Larry talks about it in his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWSz_NE5P4Y Fact Hunt episode on disastrous PlayStation marketing]].

* The rental company Vrbo was [[https://www.northernnews.ca/news/canada/super-bowl-newfoundland-song harshly criticized]] in Newfoundland over a UsefulNotes/SuperBowl LVIII [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dncumjtSid8 commercial]] that uses the traditional folk song "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27s_the_B%27y I's the B'y]]" during a scene where people arrive at a vacation rental out of [[DownOnTheFarm a farmhouse]] with various kinds of animals living throughout the accomodations. The government demanded that the commercial be pulled, and [[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/vrbo-remove-ad-1.7115746 Vrbo apologized for it]].

* The Apple Jacks campaign featured the antagonistic Apple trying to flavor the Apple Jacks cereal before the carefree [=CinnaMon=] character. This campaign [[https://abcnews.go.com/Health/Business/story?id=962115&page=1 faced some backlash from certain non-profit groups]] for possibly discouraging children from eating fruit by suggesting Apple Jacks was superior to the taste of natural apples. This may be why later ads depicted Apple and [=CinnaMon=] as friendly rivals and eventually just best friends.

* An Indiana-based Tex-Mex restaurant chain called Hacienda got into trouble ''three times'' over inappropriate advertising campaigns.

** In 2006, [[https://www.fishmarketing.net/images/clients/hacienda/billboard_little-mexican.jpg billboards]] depicting a dwarf in a sombrero with the tagline "Take home a little Mexican". The ads were quickly pulled after critics complained about the [[http://web.archive.org/web/20160821091412/http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2006-09-22/news/26997439_1_mexican-community-billboard-ads-stereotypes stereotypical]] depiction of Hispanics and how it disrespectfully portrayed them as {{Funny Foreigner}}s.

* A series of Huggies billboards advertising diapers in a denim jean pattern had images of babies posing or strutting with the intention of looking "sexy" and taglines such as "Work it baby!" and [[{{Pun}} "My diaper is full of... CHIC!"]]. [[http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/sarahbritten/2009/06/18/the-huggies-ad-that-caused-the-stink/ After it caught a lot]] [[http://thatbs.blogspot.com/2010/06/hot-ads-huggies-jean-diapers.html of flack]], for allegedly sexualizing minors, it got banned, despite being edited ''twice''.

** In 2006, [[https://www.fishmarketing.net/images/clients/hacienda/billboard_little-mexican.jpg billboards]] depicting a dwarf in a sombrero with the tagline "Take home a little Mexican". The ads were quickly pulled after critics complained about the[[http://web.archive.org/web/20160821091412/http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2006-09-22/news/26997439_1_mexican-community-billboard-ads-stereotypes stereotypical]] depiction of Hispanics and how it portrayed them as {{Funny Foreigner}}s.

** In 2006, [[https://www.fishmarketing.net/images/clients/hacienda/billboard_little-mexican.jpg billboards]] depicting a dwarf in a sombrero with the tagline "Take home a little Mexican". The ads were quickly pulled after critics complained about the[[http://web.archive.org/web/20160821091412/http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2006-09-22/news/26997439_1_mexican-community-billboard-ads-stereotypes stereotypical]] depiction of Hispanics and how it portrayed them as FunnyForeigners.
** In 2011, they posted [[https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/02/21/article-0-0D4CB8D8000005DC-891_468x305.jpg billboards]] proclaiming "We're like a cult with better Kool-Aid" over a cocktail labeled "To die for!". Needless to say, people were ''[[https://www.npr.org/2011/02/23/133986473/The-Last-Word-In-Business not]]'' happy about how the restaurant [[https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=29425 trivialized]] UsefulNotes/TheJonestownMassacre. The billboards were quickly pulled after complaints.

* In October 2017, Kellogg's "Corn Pops" cereal featured a game in the back of the box where the point was to find certain yellow corn pop characters doing a specific, silly activity, a-la [[Literature/WheresWally Where's Waldo?]] Kellogs then [[https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2017/10/25/kelloggs-replace-racially-insensitive-corn-pops-boxes-following-twitter-rant/797911001/ issued an apology]] when Creator/DCComics artist Saladin Ahmed noticed that [[EthnicMenialLabor the only brown corn pop character in the illustration was working as a janitor]].