It is not uncommon for brands to use an attractive or well-known face to increase the popularity of their products or events. However, it is important for brands to ensure that the person they choose to endorse their product or event is in sync with what the brand is trying to convey. If not, then the ad tends to become a laughing stock. A recent ad for a marathon being organised in Mumbai is a great example to substantiate this. The ad for the upcoming marathon run in Mumbai, that is scheduled for January 7, features a Spanish model on the hoarding. To make matters worse, the model is dressed in an outfit that is completely unrelated to a ‘sporty’ look. This hoarding has caught the eye of many people, who have shared its photo on Twitter and have asked the reason behind such a mismatch.
Zomato's New Ad Uses Judwaa Song 'Oonchi Hai Building'; Makes Anu Malik Smile
The advertisement is for the upcoming Hiranandani Powai Run, and shows Elsa Pataky, a Spanish model and wife of Chris Hemsworth, posing on the billboard. Elsa is dressed in shorts, top and a jacket and is wearing one of the prettiest sandals which is sure to impress many girls. However, the Twitterati opined that it is unsuitable for the ‘marathon’ message which the hoarding is trying to convey. A picture of this was shared by comedian Rahul Subramanian with a witty caption. In no time, the post went viral and received several retweets and comments.
Here is the tweet by Rahul Subramanian:
Here is how the Twitterati joined in:
Punsters:
Users were irked:
Popular comedienne Radhika Vaz also joined in:
Low IQ ad, said some:
The sandals invited the maximum criticism:
The agency was criticised by many:
And some called it the worst promotion:
This isn’t the first time that a brand has been at the receiving end of criticism on social media for inappropriate messaging. Although not for a similar reason, food discovery and booking app Zomato faced a huge backlash on social media last year. One of the hoarding ads in their campaign had hurt the sentiments of the people for its ‘offensive’ language. The hoarding had the words MC: BC Mac N’ Cheese or Butter Chicken written on it. But MC, BC are also popular initialisms for Hindi cuss words, which caused a social media outrage. Zomato was then forced to take down the ad and apologise.