Everyone loves a good Christmas advert that pulls on the heartstrings and sparks the festive spirit. Sometimes, however, Christmas marketing campaigns really miss the mark – almost as if Scrooge created them himself!
So pour yourself an eggnog, get comfortable and indulge in this naughty list of cranky Christmas marketing fails that still live rent free in the minds of consumers – for all the wrong reasons.
Bloomin’ heck Bloomingdale’s
Speaking of eggnog, what were Bloomingdale’s thinking with their 2015 print campaign? The ad features a smart looking fellow glancing curiously at a gleeful woman facing the other way (so far so good), featuring the caption: “Spike your best friend’s eggnog when they’re not looking.” Really? We have no words…
Copywriting tip: Bold and brave is good, offensive and inappropriate is bad – it’s pretty simple…
Deers rein’d on Domino’s parade
“Is it a moped? Is it a delivery car? No, it’s a reindeer!” We imagine this is exactly what Japanese Domino’s customers said when they saw Rudolf and company delivering their pizzas, or attempting to. Turns out using reindeer’s to deliver pizzas was harder than their marketing team anticipated, leading to a lot of cold pizza and unhappy customers. You just can’t get the staff these days!
PR stunt tip: Domino’s will be fine, but your smaller business might not if you don’t properly risk-manage your publicity stunts.
Warburtons crumpet campaign had a few holes
Ahh crumpets. Not necessarily festive per say, but an all-year round staple that Warburtons decided to push with a Christmas competition, because why not? All was going well up until the hashtag they used, #CrumpetCreations, clashed with the same tag used by a community of people who like to dress as animals – the Furries! Understandably, Warburtons fans searching competition results on insta got quite a shock.
Social media tip: Do your hashtag research. That’s all.
Mr. Kipling didn’t read the living room
Don’t mess with the Nativity. Mr. Kipling learnt this the hard way when they reenacted the scene in rather clinical and hectic fashion, featuring a woman named Mary in hospital painfully giving birth. The camera then pans out to a horrified audience as the scene reveals itself as a school nativity play. But the local priest in attendance doesn’t seem to care, because he’s eating an ‘exceedingly merry mince pie’. The complaints were through the roof, and the ad was only aired three times.
TV ad tip: Don’t make a mockery of religion – blasphemy doesn’t play well.
Feed your festive campaign with Fasthosts
We hope these festive fails provided you with some funny anti-inspo for your Christmas marketing. But for everything else, you’ve got the Fasthosts Online Marketing Suite. Get real-time insights on how your business is seen online, level up your SEO, create cracking ads, and plenty more.
Get in touch with our expert elves today and give your business the gift of online performance.
