Ads That Go Awry Spark Controversy

Ah, advertising. The 1930s performer Will Rogers famously referred to it as "the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have for something they don't need."

But that time-honored tradition can easily run afoul of the other mandate of the modern advertiser: to amp up the imagery, language or overall shock value of an ad to get your client's product to stand out in a crowded marketplace, says Brett Michael Dykes, a national affairs writer. This year, the clash of these central directives has generated a lot of buzz for some major ad clients — just not the kind that they were hoping for.


Burger King's "The King's Gone Crazy" campaign

 The ad in question features BK's trademark king running frantically through an office building, apparently as an escaped mental patient, pursued by a man dressed in a white lab coat who yells, "Stop that King, he's crazy!" The runaway King proceeds to run through the glass window of a break room to hand a burger over to a woman standing next to a microwave. Then two bow-tied men materialize and subdue him — the clear implication being that they are attendants from a mental hospital. They tell the shocked woman holding the burger that "this King's insane" for giving away "so much beef for $3.99." Smitten with the low price, she replies to one of the attendants, "you're the one who's nuts." "I was stunned. Absolutely stunned and appalled," says Michael Fitzpatrick, executive director for the Arlington-based National Alliance on Mental Illness, one of the nation's largest mental health advocacy organizations. He called the ad "blatantly offensive" and hopelessly retro in its depiction of mental illness, adding that the commercial could lead to further stigmatization, the primary barrier for individuals to seek out treatment. "We understand edgy," Fitzpatrick says. "But this is beyond edgy. Way beyond." David Shern, president and chief executive of Mental Health America in Alexandria, says the ad was "a perfect storm of images and words coming together," comparing it to an advertisement using the word "idiot" while featuring someone who was mentally challenged. Both groups sent letters to Burger King asking that the advertisement be removed.

Mental health organizations have spoken out against ad campaigns in the past, such as Vermont Teddy Bear's 2005 Valentine's product, which featured a "Crazy-for-You" teddy in a straitjacket (because nothing says love like restricted arm movement and claustrophobia). Or a 2007 General Motors commercial in which a robot jumps off bridge after being fired from the assembly line. Some have pointed out that the Burger King ad — which recently ended its scheduled run — was reminiscent of the old "Crazy Eddie" discount electronics store ads that ran in the Northeast for a number of years. The real Crazy Eddie, a man by the name of Eddie Antar, spent a number of years in prison on fraud-related charges. The cheap-burger-slinging King remains on the right side of the law, so far as we know.

POM's "Cheat Death" campaign

You may have heard something in the last few years about pomegranate juice helping you live a longer, healthier life. In the event you haven't, POM Wonderful, a company that harvests, packages and markets the antioxidant-laced beverage, is going the extra mile to make sure that you do. An outdoor print-ad campaign by the company in the Chicago area featured a bottle of the juice with a hangman's noose draped over the neck of the bottle. Next to the image were the words, "Cheat Death," a not-so-subtle implication that drinking POM Wonderful will help you elude the Grim Reaper's clammy grasp. The company pulled the ads after Chicagoans complained that it conjured up all sorts of unpleasant memories of lynchings and executions. But according to one advertising insider, POM is an old hand at death-themed come-ons, so don't be surprised if you see similar campaigns from them in the future. The controversial noose ad is actually not a new execution, so to speak. It has existed in the large portfolio of POM advertising since 2006, the spokesman said, but it's unclear whether the ad ever previously ran in the Chicago market. This latest advertising push is in just a few major cities where the company hasn't done a major marketing effort recently, which, in addition to Chicago, include Boston, Washington, D.C. and Miami. It should come as no surprise, really, that POM would try to push the limits of acceptable advertising, even in a relatively conservative market like Chicago. POM is owned by Lynda Resnick, an aggressive and outspoken veteran businesswoman who has grown a number of familiar brands, such as Fiji bottled water and the Teleflora floral service, through aggressive and clever marketing.