Not all ads are winners. An impactful spot can lead to billions of dollars in revenue for a fast-food company, but an ill-timed or insensitive commercial can have the opposite effect and result in almost instantaneous backlash online, which can have lasting consequences.
Since not all ads can be at McDonald’s ‘I’m lovin’ it’ level, Us Weekly has compiled a roundup of some of the most controversial spots of all time. Scroll down to check ‘em out!
Credit: Getty Images
Not all ads are winners. An impactful spot can lead to billions of dollars in revenue for a fast-food company, but an ill-timed or insensitive commercial can have the opposite effect and result in almost instantaneous backlash online, which can have lasting consequences. [ami-related id="1286129" url="https://www.usmagazine.com/food/pictures/savage-fast-food-tweets/" title="Most Savage Fast Food Tweets" target="" showsubt="false" thumb="false" imgsrc="https://www.usmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/savage-fast-food-tweets.jpg"] Since not all ads can be at McDonald’s ‘I’m lovin’ it’ level, Us Weekly has compiled a roundup of some of the most controversial spots of all time. Scroll down to check ‘em out!
Credit: Getty Images
Not all ads are winners. An impactful spot can lead to billions of dollars in revenue for a fast-food company, but an ill-timed or insensitive commercial can have the opposite effect and result in almost instantaneous backlash online, which can have lasting consequences. [ami-related id="1286129" url="https://www.usmagazine.com/food/pictures/savage-fast-food-tweets/" title="Most Savage Fast Food Tweets" target="" showsubt="false" thumb="false" imgsrc="https://www.usmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/savage-fast-food-tweets.jpg"] Since not all ads can be at McDonald’s ‘I’m lovin’ it’ level, Us Weekly has compiled a roundup of some of the most controversial spots of all time. Scroll down to check ‘em out!
Credit: Getty Images
The popular fast-food chain came under fire in August 2018 after releasing an ad that seemingly celebrated sexual innuendo in the workplace in the wake of the #MeToo movement. The 55-second spot for “Jack’s Bowls” featured employees praising said bowls (an obvious sexual innuendo) and later showed mascot Jack failing to understand why his language made many uncomfortable. “People love my bowls,” he said in protest.
Jack in the Box and the agency that created the ad, David & Goliath, stood by the commercial and released a joint statement explaining, “This ad is not diminishing any movement, and we stand firmly against any form of harassment and value those who have the guts to combat it.”
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When the World Cup was held in Russia during summer 2018, Burger King restaurants in that county tried to make the most of the spotlight. However, the chain did so in an incredibly tasteless way – by promising a lifetime supply of Whoppers to women who got impregnated by any of the professional athletes. Burger King later apologized for the Russian promotion, calling it “clearly offensive.”
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About 21 years before beginning his controversial tenure as President of the United States, Donald Trump starred in a 1995 Pizza Hut commercial with his first wife, Ivana. Though the ad, shot after the couple’s contentious divorce, included a handful of sexual innuendos (such as Ivana saying “but it feels so right”) the most offensive part of 30-second spot came near the end, as Donald and Ivana were shown eating pizza crust-first in an attempt to promote Pizza Hut’s stuffed-crust pies.
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The home of the Happy Meal was accused of profiting off disaster after airing its “Carry On” commercial during the 2015 Golden Globes. The ad featured a montage of McDonald’s signs referencing tragedies such as 9/11, the Boston Marathon bombing and the explosion of the Columbia space shuttle as a way to hawk burgers. In a statement to CNN, the company acknowledged the one-minute spot had “sparked commentary from consumers, and we're happy to see that. It is part of our campaign to listen more and have a deeper conversation with our customers, and this ad is achieving that."
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Burger King was criticized previously in 2009 when a Singaporean ad for the company seemingly compared oral sex to a sandwich. In an effort to promote a limited edition seven-inch burger, the ad featured a wide-eyed, open-mouthed blonde facing the sandwich, with the tagline: "It’ll blow your mind away. Fill your desire for something long, juicy and flame-grilled with the New BK Super Seven Incher."
What’s more? Instead of apologizing for the ad, the fast-food giant decided to blame the local advertising agency that created the image instead.
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Carl's Jr. spiced up its advertising campaign in 2017 by using President Trump’s proposed and controversial border wall as a way to sell Tex-Mex burgers. The commercial featured a volleyball game over the wall between the competing Tex and Mex sides, and there were plenty of cultural stereotypes and instances of sexism on display to boot.
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Before the burger big wig was offering its take on America’s borders, Carl’s Jr. had a habit of airing ads that did little more than employ the sex sells philosophy via a bevy of scantily-clad women. Kate Upton, Paris Hilton and Heidi Klum have all appeared in the brand’s racy spots, which are still being produced today. The chain’s spots are so risqué that social media users created #WomenAreMoreThanMeat in protest.
Credit: Darren McCollester/Newsmaker
In 2017, the Golden Arches debuted a commercial in the United Kingdom that featured a child wanting to know more about his deceased father. The ad, which showed the young boy going to McDonald’s in an effort to connect with his dead dad, ultimately backfired and prompted accusations that the fast-food chain was using childhood grief to sell burgers and fries.
Days after the ad debuted McDonald’s was forced to apologize, telling The Washington Post in a statement, “It was never our intention to cause any upset. We are particularly sorry that the advert may have disappointed those people who are most important to us — our customers.”
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