A Commercial Offense

I've experienced something that I've never thought would occur to my at the hands of multi-national corporations. They have made commercials which could be deemed offensive. While driving I heard a commercial about a McMuffin from McDonalds and while watching TV, the new commercial for Coke Zero. Rather than having commercials where people are dancing and efficient uses of product placement. McDonald's decided to play the race card, while Coke poked fun at airplane crashes.

While these commercials seem harmless to the naked eye, I wonder what marketing genius came up with these ideas and then who they were accepted by. The radio commercial involves a dude asking about an egg McMuffin. Then while arguing with another employee asks his co working "Sanjeet" who replies with his best Apu impersonation about not knowing anything what a McMuffin is or on what the conversation even pertains to. Even if it is mildly offensive, why the loud and atrocious accent? and then clear indication that "Sanjeet" could not understand English? I would really like to see who the target market and demographic this commercial was aimed for. If the ad campaign's goal was to be comical then why even add the component of an extra Indian dude, it could be done with your standard Susan or Joe blow. What was the goal of this commercial? Is it supposed to want me to eat a McMuffin? Just because the resident Indian IT guy doesn't know about? Maybe its because I'm Indian and I don't like my people being portrayed as blithering fools or being used as a cheap side show for a horrible ad campaign, either way..I digress.

This brings me to my next point about commercials becoming to liberal and insensitive to its target audience especially by multinational corporations. The latest Coke Zero ad revolves around two pilots flying a cargo plane. One of the pilots is flying the plane out of control because he thinks he's dreaming because Coke Zero has no calories or some bullshit like that. The commercial shows the plan flying all over the place and almost crashes into the tower where radio personnel operate. The end of the commercial shows the speeding plane trying to land upside down. Can Coke really be that callus to the events of 9/11 or other airplane accidents? Again this brings me to what the marketing geniuses were thinking? How does this apply to the main audience? The commercials main goal should want me to drink a Coke Zero, not think about how the people at Coke can be so stupid. This can't be out of the box thinking, since it doesn't any achieve goals indirectly. It almost shows that pilot is hallucinating because of the Coke. Maybe that was the selling point.

Multinational corporations should be held accountable to their national ad campaigns. These two examples Coke and McDonalds already have profits in the millions which means that non conventional attempts at advertising should be acceptable? Maybe I'm being too politically correct, but i think it fundamentally goes back to the goal of a marketing campaign. Coke should take lessons out of Pepsi's book and use P.Diddy to sell or a dancing Jimmy Falon. McDonalds really needs to make a cool mascot like that Burger King's King. Now those commercials are funny. Other global companies should take notice and not make these advertising blunders and try to be more in tune with the social consequences of mis-marketed products.

I know I won't be having Coke Zero or a McMuffin any time soon.