Is it all fair in love and war? What about brands leveraging conflicts and wars to push their wares?
People take cover as an air-raid siren sounds, near an apartment building damaged by recent shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine February 26, 2022.
Image: REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
In 2016, three days before the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attack, Texas-based mattress brand Miracle issued an apology to the victims and families. Why? What did a mattress brand have to do with the terror attack?
Miracle was aggressively promoting its ‘Twin Tower sale’. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it also released an ad that spoofed the bringing down of the towers. Naturally, these tasteless marketing tactics brought on a massive backlash against the brand. So much so that the company had to shut shop soon after.
In the same year and month, when the Indian Army conducted a surgical strike against terrorist camps across the Line of Control in Pakistani-administered Kashmir—a reaction to a deadly terrorist attack that killed 19 Indian soldiers, several brands leveraged India’s surgical strike. But there was one that stood out.
Gurgaon-based burger brand Burger Singh offered a celebratory offer. When social media users criticised this move, the brand’s co-founder Kabir Jeet Singh, said: “Why should we apologise for celebrating the Indian Army’s success?” He insisted it was not a marketing gimmick.